So things have been unusually serious here lately: Sunday I got all mopey and dour about how I don’t like St. Patrick’s Day. Then Tuesday the verdict came out with the Steubenville rape and there was the media “spin” on that and all I could publish was semi-coherent anger… Miraculously I still have some readers.
I thought I’d return to form with something humorous and wry, but thought to myself, “That might not be enough restore the balance, old sport.” Then I wondered why I was talking to myself like Gatsby. But then I thought I’d throw out some video of me kissing my baby’s tummy and giving her the giggles.
That’s right. You think you’re cool and jaded and chock-a-block full of ennui – but let’s see how dour you are after… this:
***
Faith in goodness in the world? Re-affirmed. Order to the Byroniverse? Restored.
The Byronic Man 
March 21, 2013 at 3:05 am
Now that’s how I need to start my day! A little bundle of giggles goes a long way…
March 21, 2013 at 7:03 am
They really are super-concentrated.
March 21, 2013 at 3:13 am
Oh. that was what I needed. To me, there is nothing in this world more precious or full of promise than a baby – and a laughing baby reminds me that there is joy in the simplest of things.
March 22, 2013 at 8:26 am
It’s pretty concentrated joy.
March 21, 2013 at 3:27 am
You should be ashamed. CGI? Really? All to make it look like you have the cutest baby in the Byroniverse?
March 21, 2013 at 7:04 am
The really hard part was her demanding her own trailer and designer milk.
March 21, 2013 at 3:36 am
Yep. That’s all I needed! Thanks.
March 22, 2013 at 8:40 am
Well, it’s renewable, so take as much as you need.
March 21, 2013 at 4:20 am
Totally made my day!
March 22, 2013 at 8:28 am
One of my other favorites is in the middle of the night when she’s drifting back to sleep and periodically opens her eyes to make sure someone’s still there, and smiles as she falls back asleep. When’s the last time you fell asleep smiling?
March 22, 2013 at 9:11 am
Soooooooooooooooo sweet. (I don’t think I put enough O’s to get the “aw-factor” across) I still watch J sleeping. She puts her arms up over her head and still smiles in her sleep. Looks so content!
March 21, 2013 at 4:44 am
Reaffirmed. Restored. I’m pretty sure you will make her giggle for the rest of her life! In different ways, of course.
March 22, 2013 at 8:28 am
Well, that’s the plan, anyway.
March 21, 2013 at 5:24 am
Awesome, thanks for sharing – needed that this morning.
March 22, 2013 at 8:28 am
She’s much better at making people laugh than I am.
March 21, 2013 at 6:07 am
Oh no! Someone send help. There is a huge head trying to eat that poor baby!! NOOOOOOO.
Thanks a lot for that, B. You just awakened my uterus. I’ve been trying to keep that bitch sedated for years. Now look what you’ve done. I hope you’re proud of yourself. :p
March 22, 2013 at 8:25 am
What am I here for, if not to stir up angry, inner conflict?
March 21, 2013 at 7:03 am
Impossible to NOT smile while watching this.
Super super super super adorable!
March 22, 2013 at 8:29 am
That’s what I think, too. It could be a reality show: “Celebrity Keep From Smiling At The Giggling Baby.”
March 21, 2013 at 7:06 am
There’s cute, and then there’s baby giggles. Total mood-lifting, smile-factory!
March 22, 2013 at 8:40 am
It’s somewhat un-quantifiable, isn’t it?
March 21, 2013 at 7:24 am
Too cute!
March 21, 2013 at 11:15 am
Yeah, it should almost come with a warning.
March 21, 2013 at 7:26 am
Just wait til the day she hands you a toy phone and you answer it and have an entire conversation with yourself. You’ll turn to putty in her sweet little hands.
March 22, 2013 at 8:30 am
That will come in handy, because I notoriously talk to myself. Now it will be adorable.
March 21, 2013 at 7:37 am
Like! Like! Like! . . .et cetera!!!
March 22, 2013 at 8:35 am
Thanks… I say as if I’d done something…
March 21, 2013 at 8:36 am
Baby giggles are the bestest. They fix everything.
March 22, 2013 at 8:39 am
They really do.
March 21, 2013 at 8:37 am
Baby Tummy — The Byronic Snack 🙂
March 22, 2013 at 8:43 am
It’s lo-cal, which is nice.
March 21, 2013 at 8:39 am
If that doesn’t make you smile, you’re already dead.
March 22, 2013 at 8:34 am
Maybe even then. I’d test it, but trying to make a baby laugh at a corpse somehow seems a skosh wrong.
March 21, 2013 at 9:19 am
Well that’s just adorable.
March 22, 2013 at 8:44 am
That’s my diagnosis, as well.
March 21, 2013 at 10:01 am
The first time I heard my niece giggle I nearly died. There is absolutely nothing like baby laughter. It is so amazingly simple and awesome.
Lovely little byronic girl you’ve got there.
March 22, 2013 at 8:44 am
It’s surprising how powerful it is. It sounds saccharine to describe, but it’s just so blindingly sweet and joyous.
March 21, 2013 at 11:00 am
Love it! Order has been restored, indeed. 🙂
March 22, 2013 at 8:45 am
I’m an agent of cosmic harmony. At least that’s what it says on my resume.
March 21, 2013 at 3:36 pm
Hmm. Baby giggles. I think you’ve discovered a new energy source. 😉
March 22, 2013 at 8:34 am
How great of a fuel source would THAT be? “Car’s running low. Better start tickling.”
March 22, 2013 at 9:01 am
It could cause the emergence of a new automotive technician, the “Giggle Filler.”
March 21, 2013 at 5:19 pm
I’m actually a freak so baby giggles don’t get me. But seeing a dad so clearly loving his daughter? And hearing a mom cooing in the background? That is what restores my faith. Can you imagine how different this world would be if everyone was showered with that kind of love, even if only in their first few years? You’re doing your part, sir.
March 22, 2013 at 8:33 am
Well, I hope so. Thanks for saying so.
March 22, 2013 at 3:16 am
Wow! Baby B’s got the moves! Hair Grip Head-Lock! Jedi Death-Stare! WWA watch out!
March 22, 2013 at 8:32 am
Yeah, if her grip is any indication now, I’ll be asking her to open jars when she’s 3.
March 22, 2013 at 8:14 am
It’s as if your little cutie pie is looking to mom to save her. Like she’s saying, “Help me! Save me from this tickle monster!” Great memory to capture on video.
March 22, 2013 at 8:31 am
She’s just starting to figure out space: she’s realizing these objects are in a certain direction. And she wants to grab them – eyes, noses, lips – really, really hard.
March 22, 2013 at 8:16 am
Awww! shes got mood killing super powers! how cute
March 22, 2013 at 8:30 am
Her cape and mask are in the wash.
March 22, 2013 at 6:52 pm
So who is around whose little finger? *snort*
March 23, 2013 at 5:08 am
That was entirely perfect.
March 23, 2013 at 1:27 pm
And all is right with the world. There is nothing that a baby giggle can’t fix.
March 25, 2013 at 5:50 pm
I hate the be the jaded parent but sometimes I want to tell all new parents to just forget about enjoying the first couple months. You’ll think at the time that you’re enjoying them but then you’ll eventually see that it doesn’t get really good until you hear that first giggle.
She is ADORABLE. You knew that though.
March 28, 2013 at 9:36 am
Wow, how did you get your child to smile on command. I’m still trying to teach mine to roll over.
April 7, 2013 at 7:23 am
“chock-a-block full of ennui” just made my day.
I’d like to say the baby video made my day, but my employer has it blocked.
communists.