Day 73: What's in a smile? #2

Atom has been working hard this week. He has added not one but two smiles now to his repertoire. He has sort of a slanted right side of the mouth smirky thing that he does when he is not fully committed to the smile. He does it seemingly more to let you know he appreciates your effort. The goofy sounds coming out of your mouth and the crazy eyes you made didn't go unnoticed. He got it . Now move on.

His other smile is pure unabashed joy. A stop you in your tracks and take your breath away smile. It's a huge toothless mouth smile that is obscenely wide. Maniacal almost in nature except it couldn't be any more innocent. There is something magical in watching the discovery of happiness and joy manifested by genuine expression. It is an inclusionary smile that bubbles under your own skin as it commandeers your facial muscles and explodes out in a reactionary smile. I find myself not even aware I am smiling and smiling so wide my jaw usually hurts afterward.

The most sublime moment might just be a smile dancing across Atom's face. The fact that he hasn't quite enlisted the rest of his face into the act doesn't matter in the least. A smile so pure and raw that hasn't been worn down by self consciousness is truly a powerful thing. I'm not sure I could take a full face smile at this point.

Day 52: What's in a smile?

He did it. He really did it. A smile. Well, it was a baby smile. All mis-shapen, crooked and beautiful. Atom has officially moved from random sleep smiles to what appears to be purposeful goodness.

You might say "But isn't he in the mimic stage? The stage where he might try to mimic your facial expressions." Yes, you are right, he is in the mimic stage. The stage where he enjoys doing more than just stare dead eyed at you until you feel the urge to give him all your money. I am not trying to minimize how cool this stage is but BAM! He entered the stage and kept going right into smiles. A feat few zombies walking around New York City seem to have mastered themselves.

I have to give my wife credit because she seems to bring the most out of Atom and of course he can't seem to smile enough around her. In fact, everyone smiles around her so I didn't put much into this new trick until he turned that gummy mug on me. Mona Lisa looks quite Munch-ish compared to him when he lets it loose. It is hard to describe the feeling when your child smiles at you for the first time. Your lungs expand with a sudden burst of oxygen, your heart squeezes an extra beat into your normal rhythm and time slows to a few frames a second in effort to capture the image into your memory. I feel lucky to have been the beneficiary of his smile and hope many more people feel that way over the course of his life.

Not only does he have a smile that could sell smog to an Angeleno but this means he is learning muscle control. He is making the connection between feelings and how to physically express them. He is making his first attempts at communication. He is looking at me and saying "You make me happy". Of course another explanation is he is looking at me sand saying "Do you smell that?"