Happy Chap

Jared and I love to try to pinpoint exactly which features Little J got from which family member.  He has my eyebrows and eyes, Jared's smile and big feet, and he makes facial expressions that remind me of both of my brothers.  At almost 10 months old, he still doesn't have a distinct eye color, which may mean he has hazel eyes like his Pop-Pop.  All babies are precious, but when you look at the face of your own baby, it's a really special feeling.  The second he was born, I felt like he already looked familiar.  I already knew him.

 There aren't a lot of mysteries when it comes to his appearance (aside from his outie belly button) and there are even fewer when it come to his personality.  In the hospital, the nurses commented over and over about him being such a laid-back, easy baby.  "You both must be really chill people to produce such a calm baby," one said.  Jared and I locked eyes and shared a private joke, since we are both prone to anxiety and neurotics.  What we have come to discover about our Peanut is that he isn't an abnormally calm baby... he's actually just like us.  Jared and I are both shy, reserved people.  There aren't many who know our true personalities, as we rarely show our awkward, fretful sides to strangers.  So, we may come across as being "laid back" or "cool" (or "bitchy," as my classmates in high school referred to me).  We suspect that our Babe is the same way: reserved.  He seems to enjoy just sitting back and observing the world.  But the traits that our babe inherited from us that we notice the most are his sensitivity and his sense of humor.  Jared and I laugh a lot.  Humor plays a large role in our relationship, because it's something we both greatly appreciate.

Little J laughs at everything:

the vacuum
the blowdryer
when we sneeze
when we cough
when Zooey scratches herself
when Zooey sneezes
when Zooey runs around the coffee table
when Zooey plays tug-o-war with him
when Zooey looks at him
Zooey
when we sharpen knives
when I scold Jared
when I talk in "man voice"
when I shake his bottle
when we pull his pants off
when he spots himself in a mirror
when he splashes in the tub
when my phone rings

He may be sensitive like his parents, but our Young Chap finds humor in all of the little things.  Even the microscopic things. This very moment he just pulled my wallet from a pouch in the diaper bag and squealed with delight, then stomp-crawled across the room to make sure I noticed his discovery.