Do Newborns Really Smile?

Last night was a much better night that the 2 or 3 days preceding it - Rose finally slept calmly instead of doing that newborn grunting thing that she was doing. What a relief, I thought I had given birth to a little piggy. And then I thought, shoot - does this mean I am going to have to start giving her mud baths? Because I love mud, don't get me wrong (its so good for the skin), but it really cramps my style for my kid to be muddy. I have this ridiculous desire for my house to be clean, and mud does not picture prominently in my vision of "clean".

The point is that this morning both she and I woke up in great moods.

So Ivy and Violet came in the room to coo at Rose and also to attack her under the pretext of "petting" her. In all fairness, I know they don't really understand that she is a person and not a toy. I am mostly referring to Violet - that kid is rough on newborn piggies! You would think she is aiming for some bacon at breakfast and is intent on slaughtering her own meal. But I am trying to teach her to be gentle and I think she is starting to get the picture.

So there we all were, me and my little garden of 3, and the girls were smiling ear to ear. Rose kept looking at their faces, showing interest for the first time. And then - BAM - a smile!!!

It was a huge, open mouth smile, and it was directed at Violet. I thought for sure that was just a fluke, but then she smiled again, at Ivy. And then twice more after that! There was no mistaking it - she was actually smiling.

I hope this bodes well for her character and her sense of humor. I am thinking of buying her a rubber chicken for Christmas. Or at least a Groucho Marx pair of glasses with the nose and mustache attached. Its never too early to cultivate their interests, I say. What is Emily Post's take on the etiquette of rubber chickens as gifts?