The battle of who could care less

Blake is not a smiley baby. He did not smile at 6 weeks or 8 weeks or even at 10 weeks. Smiling is not his thing.

I though I caught a half smile out of the corner of my eye on Mother's Day. But I realized in retrospect that I made it up in an effort to salvage a rather crummy day.

Don't worry, my friends tell me. He will smile soon enough.

I'm not worried. Blake has met all of his developmental milestones. He tracks with his eyes and turns his head toward voices. He even lifts his torso off the ground when he is on his stomach. I'm not worried, I simply want it.

Apparently the "soon enough" that my friends keep talking about has come, for everyone but me. Blake has one smile to give per day, on rare occasion two. Every day for the last week the ritual has been thus... Ernesto comes home from work and takes his obligatory fifteen minutes to put his work stuff away, change into his casual clothes, and check his personal email. Then Ernesto swoops in to take Blake out of my arms so that I can "have a break". Now this is where the timing is important, just as soon as I have rounded the corner, or am elbow deep in dinner or some other chore I will hear, "Are you smiling for Daddy? What a big smile!! Yes, I love you too."

But of course I could care less that Blake smiles for his daddy and not me.

I would assume that Ernesto was making this up just to torture me but alas twice in the last week the scenario has been such... I blast my favorite play list on my iPod, put Blake in his bouncy chair so he can be close, and I hop in the shower. Zoey will run in to the bathroom hoping that I will mediate her latest squabble with Reed just to get distracted talking to Blake. And I hear this, "Mom, Blake just smiled at me!! You are so cute Blake-y-rake-y. Yes, I love you too."

But of course I could care less that his sister seems to be higher on the totem pole than me.

Last night Ernesto had Blake snuggled in his arms watching TV. I came up the stairs and rounded to corner to peer at the pair. I smiled down at my handsome men and cooed at my baby. I was gifted with the biggest, two dimple, wide and gummy smile. It was more than sunshine in my soul it was the lifeblood of being a mother.

"See!" Ernesto said, "He does smile."

I do see. My little boy loves me. Yes Blake, I love you too.Those smile are a rare commodity, but I will try and catch one on camera. It will be kind of like getting a picture of Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster...