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Watching someone develop a sense of humor is fascinating.
ARR first seemed to smile in order to get smiles. He smiled hesitantly at you, you smiled back, and then he'd smile wider in delight that the trick worked. Eventually, he started smiling at stuff because it made him happy, but that seemed to come second.
Laughter initially seemed to start as just an extension of smiling--if he was happy and excited, he giggled. (Actually, it took me a while to realize he was laughing--he didn't actually make a "hee hee hee" sound, he just sort of squealed like a little tea kettle--"eeeeee!" It wasn't until someone from daycare pointed out how much he laughed that I finally recognized that was his laugh.) From there, we moved to tickling--if you tickled his tummy, he would laugh.
But that was just general happiness and physical reactions. What's been more interesting is watching him develop an actually sense of humor. If everyone in the room laughs, he stares for a second or two, and then starts laughing in the way people do when they don't actually get the joke but they really want to fit in. He will actually look back and forth at the people around him while he laughs, his mouth smiling but his eyes a little anxious. "Are we laughing? Was something funny? Am I doing it right? No, no, I get it, really. ...wait, are we stopping now?"
But he's also figured out that some things he does make other people laugh and he now goes out of his way to do them. When I'm feeding him, he'll grab the spoon between his teeth and wiggle it up and down, his eyes sparkling, perfectly aware that he looks both cute and ridiculous.
Lately, he's developed enough to develop a streak of mischievousness. He knows he's not supposed to throw his bottle. He specifically catches your eye and then throws it and laughs. But it's developed a new twist in the last week. Clearly someone at daycare has been shaking his finger at him, telling him no. Because now he throws the bottle and then shakes his finger, grinning and looking at you slyly out of the corner of his eye.
This weekend, we took him to the park. There was a communal set of the big sidewalk chalk lying out. I showed him how to draw on the ground, which he was slightly baffled but intrigued by. Then he tried to eat the chalk, so I quickly removed it from his mouth and told him no. He tried again. And again. Somewhere in the dozens of times he tried to grab chalk and put it in his mouth, he stopped actually trying to do it, though. He was miming, putting it up to his lips but not actually sticking it in, with that sly sideways smile again, trying to provoke a reaction.
Which is even more hilarious now that I've noticed it, because it's increasingly clear when he thinks he's getting away with something he's not supposed to do. (Often, it's actually something I don't care about whether he does, so that's even more interesting--I've decided I don't mind him messing up all my shoes in the closet, but he clearly knows that it's something that can be considered "bad", and is delighted to be "getting away" with something.)
This kid is going to be a real handful. Hilarious, but a handful.
ARR first seemed to smile in order to get smiles. He smiled hesitantly at you, you smiled back, and then he'd smile wider in delight that the trick worked. Eventually, he started smiling at stuff because it made him happy, but that seemed to come second.
Laughter initially seemed to start as just an extension of smiling--if he was happy and excited, he giggled. (Actually, it took me a while to realize he was laughing--he didn't actually make a "hee hee hee" sound, he just sort of squealed like a little tea kettle--"eeeeee!" It wasn't until someone from daycare pointed out how much he laughed that I finally recognized that was his laugh.) From there, we moved to tickling--if you tickled his tummy, he would laugh.
But that was just general happiness and physical reactions. What's been more interesting is watching him develop an actually sense of humor. If everyone in the room laughs, he stares for a second or two, and then starts laughing in the way people do when they don't actually get the joke but they really want to fit in. He will actually look back and forth at the people around him while he laughs, his mouth smiling but his eyes a little anxious. "Are we laughing? Was something funny? Am I doing it right? No, no, I get it, really. ...wait, are we stopping now?"
But he's also figured out that some things he does make other people laugh and he now goes out of his way to do them. When I'm feeding him, he'll grab the spoon between his teeth and wiggle it up and down, his eyes sparkling, perfectly aware that he looks both cute and ridiculous.
Lately, he's developed enough to develop a streak of mischievousness. He knows he's not supposed to throw his bottle. He specifically catches your eye and then throws it and laughs. But it's developed a new twist in the last week. Clearly someone at daycare has been shaking his finger at him, telling him no. Because now he throws the bottle and then shakes his finger, grinning and looking at you slyly out of the corner of his eye.
This weekend, we took him to the park. There was a communal set of the big sidewalk chalk lying out. I showed him how to draw on the ground, which he was slightly baffled but intrigued by. Then he tried to eat the chalk, so I quickly removed it from his mouth and told him no. He tried again. And again. Somewhere in the dozens of times he tried to grab chalk and put it in his mouth, he stopped actually trying to do it, though. He was miming, putting it up to his lips but not actually sticking it in, with that sly sideways smile again, trying to provoke a reaction.
Which is even more hilarious now that I've noticed it, because it's increasingly clear when he thinks he's getting away with something he's not supposed to do. (Often, it's actually something I don't care about whether he does, so that's even more interesting--I've decided I don't mind him messing up all my shoes in the closet, but he clearly knows that it's something that can be considered "bad", and is delighted to be "getting away" with something.)
This kid is going to be a real handful. Hilarious, but a handful.
