as mr. rourke would say, "smiles, everyone, smiles!"

Kenny is now at a fun stage where we think he's just in between gas smiles and the real thing. He actually appears to react to certain stimuli (funny faces, zerberts, tickling, political satire) with a smile, or possibly, a guffaw. I never realized why this was such a big deal until I had a kid of my own.

The funny thing about infants is that they seem so serious all of the time. When they're not looking serious, they're looking peeved, so a smile is a welcome break. Nothing humanizes a little spud like a good smile and giggle.

All of this means that we're now trying to figure out how to elicit those elusive grins and discover what method works best. Overboard's stand-up routines are still a bit dry for Kenny's tastes, but he does seem to react well to physical humor. Consequently, we're working out a new routine full of pratfalls, spit-takes and Three Stooges-esque slapping and eye gouging. This kid's gonna start laughing or one of us is going to the hospital...