Mama-Come-Lately

I knew it was coming. One day the baby would do something hilarious at an inappropriate time and I wouldn’t be able to keep from laughing.

As it often does in my family, it happened over food. A big spoonful of baby cereal mixed with fruit went into the baby’s mouth. Almost immediately, he blew a raspberry. Cereal on him, on me, on the tray, on the floor. And before I could stop myself, I laughed.

I’ve read the books, so I knew it was the wrong thing to do as I was doing it (babies know how to play for laughs). Still, I didn’t care. Until a few minutes later when he did the same thing while looking at me with a glint in his eye.

And so I prepared to pour all my disapproval into my face and bust out the Stern Mom Look. The next time he did it, I slapped that look on my face and said, “No. Not funny.” A big fat lie. But since I don’t want to spend the next four months scraping baby cereal out of every crevice in the dining room, a worthwhile lie.

It worked. He stopped doing it.

A few days later, he started something new. He takes the spoon between his teeth and bends down until his face is flush against the tray. Usually, this sends whatever’s on the spoon up his nose. And in between performances, he sticks his right index finger up his right nostril, holds it there, and just looks at me.

Seems I have a comedian on my hands. And I’m at least partly to blame — I taught him to blow raspberries.