Noelle Giggles

There's nothing in the world cooler than hearing your child laugh for the first time.

On one recent afternoon, I was at my parents' home with Noelle. On her porta-crib, my mother had attached a little stuffed pink poodle on a string. When you pulled the poodle, it made a little jiggling noise as it climbed back up the string.

My mom said, "Hey, Noelle ... watch this."

She pulled the poodle and it vibrated and jiggled back up the string. And for the first time, Noelle laughed.

I caught my breath. I've heard her kind of laugh before - it's a breathy sound. It's almost like she knows what laughter is, but she's still working on it.

This was the first REAL laugh I'd heard. An outright, full laugh.

So we grabbed the pink poodle and headed into their gameroom to see if we could make Noelle laugh again. My dad brought his camera to record our game. What follows is one of the greatest things I've experienced so far as a new mom - our baby's first real laughter. Click on the link below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13583247@N04/3602180292/

Noelle's Newest Toy

Somehow or another, I missed out on the "Jolly Jumper" toy as a baby. You know what I'm talking about - those little chairs that hang from the door frame on a big spring and bungie cord, allowing the baby to bounce up and down. I remember watching my nephew bounce in one several years ago, and I thought they were just the coolest thing. If I'd had one as a child, I'm sure I would have never gotten out of it.

Come to think of it, if they made one for adults, I would never get out of it. But I digress ...

Our friend Gwen was the wonderful soul who gave Noelle her Jolly Jumper. And just as we suspected, Noelle loves it!

So I give you "Bouncing Noelle."