Kool-Aid Smiles

When Zachary was a baby we bought a small mirror (like maybe 11”x14”) to prop up next to his tummy time mat. We had heard that babies love to look at themselves so we thought it would be fun (and better than the crappy mirror that was actually attached to the mat). We don’t know what happened to that mirror, but the other day we commented that we should get a mirror for Liam. So yesterday at lunch I went to Target and found a mirror that wasn’t too expensive and we propped it up next to the coffee table last night. Well, Liam had an absolute BALL. As soon as we faced him towards the mirror, he was giggling and screeching and smiling from ear-to-ear (or, “Kool-Aid smiles” as I heard a guy say on the radio this morning). It was SO cute. It always amazes me when something so simple brings such happiness to my kids. Liam also decided around 2:00 this morning that it was time for a party. We heard something through the monitor - he wasn't crying though. He was just talking to himself and making sounds. I thought, OK now - just go to sleep! There will be plenty of time to party tomorrow! Thankfully, he was back to sleep within a few minutes, so nobody even had to get out of bed to check on him.

Now, my Olympics observations for the day. I was thrilled to see more synchronized diving last night! It’s my new 2nd favorite event (behind women’s gymnastics – which I didn’t get to watch because they came on after my bedtime…I did hear what happened though, so don’t worry about spoilers). Although I do think the American team was robbed a few times in the diving. On one dive one of the judges gave them a 4.5…I mean, really. Seriously? A 4.5? I thought that dive was actually pretty good. I think maybe the US just doesn’t have a strong reputation in that event right now, so any little error is going to get them docked serious points, while teams like China have a reputation for being good at diving, so they are cut a little slack. I also decided that the woman who does the commentary on the synchronized diving is annoying. I hate listening to her. Last night the Canadian divers came up to do their first dive, and Josh & I both immediately noticed that one of the divers did not seem as “lean” as some of the other divers. I would not call her fat, because if I saw her walking down the street I’d probably think she looked pretty good. But in a bathing suit, next to a bunch of skinny people, she just looked thicker. Well, commentary lady at one point said, “This Canadian team is not streamlined.” Was that a fat joke?? Later on another dive, one of the Canadian girls made a decent size splash upon entering the water, and commentary lady said, “Whoa! It’s a tidal wave!” I don’t know if her comments were meant to be subtle jabs at the one girl or what. I just couldn’t believe she said it. We heard her say it and it was like, no, she couldn't have said that. We had to back it up 3 or 4 times to confirm that yes – she did actually just say that on the OLYMPICS! How do people like her get jobs like that???