Once in a while, your three week old bestows upon you what looks like a genuine smile. It warms your heart, thinking "Aw! That is such a cute little smile, just for mommy!" Then the bubble bursts, when everyone tells you, "No honey, it's just gas!"
Dying to find out the truth about the matter, I went to all possible we-know-your-baby-better-than-you websites. Every one of them told me, with authority, the same thing that everyone else was telling me. In a more scientific manner, all they told me was, "No honey, it's just gas!"
I also searched for the answer in "What to expect - The First Year". Same question, same answer.
They tell me that it is too soon for my baby to be smiling. But come on! They were the ones who told me that baby watches my face the most. That babies are interested in various expressions, and if I poke my tongue out at my baby, baby will reciprocate that action. Now, I have been smiling at my baby till my cheeks hurt, thinking that I could get my baby to smile early. She does, and then I am told that it's gas the baby is passing. I pass gas all the time! I never smile when I pass gas. Who smiles when they pass gas? (Unless of course, it's my husband. He does flash a silly grin when he does so, as though it's an achievement!)
Maybe the baby is just acting out what I am showing her, without meaning to actually smile. Maybe it is all the same to her, just like raising her eyebrows, or poking her tongue out. Just tell me it's a smile, if for nothing else, then to just make me happy. Raising an infant is hard as it is. When I wake up ten times in the night, it's the feeling that my baby has smiled at me, makes me go on. I would go on even if she didn't smile, but it gets easier.
How come she always has gas when I kiss her cheek? How come she always has the winds blowing when Dad is singing to her? I don't think my baby is precocious, but I know a smile when I see one. I know my blog post today is getting rather argumentative, but what do you expect? I am a run-down mommy, dying to see some silver lining.
So I don't care what these books tell me, and all you mommies out there, shouldn't care too! When we think our baby is smiling, just take it for what it is. We can all tell them later, "No darlings, it's really just a smile!"
Dying to find out the truth about the matter, I went to all possible we-know-your-baby-better-than-you websites. Every one of them told me, with authority, the same thing that everyone else was telling me. In a more scientific manner, all they told me was, "No honey, it's just gas!"
I also searched for the answer in "What to expect - The First Year". Same question, same answer.
Maybe the baby is just acting out what I am showing her, without meaning to actually smile. Maybe it is all the same to her, just like raising her eyebrows, or poking her tongue out. Just tell me it's a smile, if for nothing else, then to just make me happy. Raising an infant is hard as it is. When I wake up ten times in the night, it's the feeling that my baby has smiled at me, makes me go on. I would go on even if she didn't smile, but it gets easier.
How come she always has gas when I kiss her cheek? How come she always has the winds blowing when Dad is singing to her? I don't think my baby is precocious, but I know a smile when I see one. I know my blog post today is getting rather argumentative, but what do you expect? I am a run-down mommy, dying to see some silver lining.
So I don't care what these books tell me, and all you mommies out there, shouldn't care too! When we think our baby is smiling, just take it for what it is. We can all tell them later, "No darlings, it's really just a smile!"
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