To Laugh in the Face of Danger

We've discovered something funny about Taylor. At least it seems funny to us. I mean, for all I know, this could be a normal baby thing. But for all intensive purposes, let's pretend this is extraordinary. Okay? Good.

Enter Zissou. Zissou wants his toy. What does he do?

He barks. Loudly.

I am holding Taylor. I imagine that it frightens her, so I pull her tighter.

Then I hear a sound. Strange. What's that? She's laughing. Belly-shaking laughing.

The more Zissou barks, the more she laughs.




Then we think back to all the other times we've made Taylor laugh. Most of them involve some form of her being scared or startled. She makes a frightened face, then it turns to a laugh. So we've come to the conclusion that Taylor likes to be surprised/scared/startled. Instead of causing her to cry, it brings forth laughter. Hey, whatever works.

That's funny, because I hate being frightened. Ask my dad. Maybe it's because he mercilessly scared me as a child. He went above and beyond the call of duty to scare. That's why I've forbidden Jonathan to scare me. He is a sweet husband and he refrains. Thank goodness. But there are times when he scares me 'accidentally'. He startles me, but makes it look like he didn't mean to. Hmmm. I guess that's not so bad. Anyways, I am a super scaredy-cat.

But not our Taylor. She's better than that. Braver than me.

She laughs in the face of danger.