laughter

usually there is a constant argument going on in our house between the oldest two children (no not me & rick...). it doesn't matter what the topic of conversation is: dissent surrounds it. rick and i keep telling ourselves that maybe it means our kids have a great ability to think for themselves and that they won't follow the crowd easily, since they are so readily disagreeable. i think this thought at least helps us cope with the noise.

a funny thing happened, though, when rhys was born. suddenly, whenever either one of them was focused on the baby, they became a united front in keeping him happy, loving on him, caring for him, and making him laugh. something tells me this united front won't happen long...we've already had sneak peeks of them fighting each other over the affections of the baby, while he lays there, content to listen to their voices. It's probably some sort of unhealthy comfort, as he heard them yelling at each other so often in the womb.

at any rate, today gillian and i stayed home from church (i know, heathens that we are!) and rick and aedan went to church. at one point, while rhys was awake and hanging out with me, gillian came over and began making faces at him. he immediately got the hugest grin on his face, and then he proceeded to laugh, and laugh, and laugh at her! to my knowledge, this is the first time he has laughed at all. he makes excited coos and gasps every now and then, but this was a belly-busting laugh.

rhys is very drawn to gillian anyway; i told rick yesterday that i think women are just born with a mothering instinct, because gillian has a very strong one. it's really a very cool thing to see. aedan doesn't really seem to possess this same spirit, which is very evident when, for example, he tries to put his hand over rhys's mouth and then when he gets in trouble says "but i had my fingers cracked so he could breathe." (hopefully this isn't an indicator that he will end up in prison one day?)

gillian, however, just oohs and aahs over him, and rhys loves to look at her hair. it really is amazing to see, and i wish i could have captured this moment today with a video clip to show you, so you could share in the amazement.