Somewhere between 3 and 4 months, R2D2 (baby A) and C-3PO (baby B) became super social. They began watching us as we would walk around the room, turning their heads to follow if we moved just out of sight. They started smiling as soon as they saw us, and even began giggling when we talked to them. The sparkles in their eyes let us know the smiles were social in nature and prompted by happiness, not muscle twitches. Turns out, there is a world beyond milk and sleep, and it is fascinating!
Their delight in human interaction has only increased in the last few months. The smiles have morphed into wide-mouthed grins; the light giggles deepened into belly laughs. Their joy is full and unfeigned; they have not an ounce of self-consciousness. They laugh easily and without diffidence. I can hardly think of a better reward for all the time and effort spent caring for them; my heart melts every single time! 💗 The dopamine hit I get makes me want to do whatever it was that they found funny, over and over and over again so that the peals of laughter never stop. One of my favourite things is when they are standing in front of me, holding onto my fingers for support, and something strikes them as hilarious...their heads tip backward and their knees buckle because they can't concentrate well enough to stand, hold their neck straight, AND crack up at the same time. It is the ultimate in spontaneous, uncontrolled laughter.
Nobody can make them laugh like their older brother, Skywalker. He just lights up their life. He dances, they laugh. He talks, they listen intently. He walks past, they follow with their eyes, twisting their bodies around if needed. If he gets too excited and talks loudly at them (because they are "SO cute [he] can't even stand it"), sometimes they cry. And then Skywalker feels badly and does "Choo Choo Train" with their legs to make them happy again.
There is a flip side to this development. With their exhilaration for social interaction comes total dismay at being denied such opportunities. And there are two of them. They BOTH want to be held and both want to played with. They have discovered that they can hold my attention and that it is FUN, and they both want 100% of it. They simply can't understand why I would ever want to put them down. They take the greatest offense right after their naps, when we haven't seen each other in SO LONG. Often they are both awake when I get them up, so I take one baby out of the crib and tell the other "I'll be right back to get you, I have to take your brother downstairs." The baby in the crib of course doesn't understand these words. He only knows that I clearly saw him and clearly left him lying there. He fusses a bit. But the baby I carry downstairs! Talk about indignation. When I leave him on the floor with a toy, he feels wildly mistreated - I picked him up, and then had the gall to PUT HIM DOWN.
I mean, seriously. What an insult.
As you can imagine, I can't devote 100% of my attention to the babies at all times, let alone 100% of my attention to each one individually. So I attend to them as much as I can, and we play together a lot. Luckily, this still works for them. When I hold one and walk around with him, I make frequent eye contact with the other while I talk or sing. When I read a book to one on my lap, I turn the book around and show the baby playing on the floor. Often I put them on the floor together and sit at their feet, leaning over with my face above theirs. I talk to them and look back and forth between them.
But here's my favourite part. Each time I make eye contact with one, his face lights up and he seems to imagine that he and I are the only two people in the world. But no matter who I'm actually looking at, they both grin and kick and flail wildly, because as far as they are concerned, I am playing just with them. So it would seem that I CAN give 100% of my attention to both babies at once.
I don't know how long they will accept this trio play and not demand my attention ALONE, but I'll savor every moment of it for now!
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