Laowai

It’s fun to make Bea laugh. Fun because she makes this sputtering laugh that sounds like the backfiring of an old car. Fun because she shrieks in that way that says I don’t really have any concerns in the world in a way that only children can ever really do. Fun because laughing is not crying and everyone knows that my current focus is the suppression of baby grief at all costs. Fun because when these sounds aren’t escaping, she does a silent, gap-mouthed grin that looks like she can’t imagine anything more fun than you burying your face in her stomach as she pulls your hair. Fun because she has tre denti.

Tre denti is my baby’s three teeth. It’s hard to see these teeth unless you’re working pretty hard and get a big fat smile. And not any kind of smile; not the I-see-you-across-the-room-daddy-and-you-look-funny smile and certainly not the smile that greets the familiar squeak of her favorite toy. This smile is more of a treasure, fleeting, hard to find, and certainly not possible to conjure at will. It is a quest reminiscent of the prepubescent hunt for the elusive girl to hold hands with in the halls of Central Intermediate. In fact, when Kathy told me they were there (Kathy has other sensory methods of detecting such sharp little daggers), I still hadn’t confirmed it for a while. But now I’ve seen them and she is my little Signora Tre Denti (this is an opera reference so obscure that even I won’t get it a year from now).

Bea and I went out for a couple hours on a really long walk through beautiful downtown Evanston on Saturday. We enjoyed the incredible weather while Kathy got what I realized was probably the longest stretch of alone time she has had in eight months. I go to work everyday or head out on my bike and take for granted that Bea is a part of my life but not all of it. This is probably about as long as Kathy has ever been apart from Bea. Incredible to think about. Exhausting to think about. When I travel for work, my nights are often short but they are uninterrupted. Yet another reason I am thankful that I was born without breasts.

Last thought on Tre Denti is that we are really hopeful that she will treat Grandma and Grandpa C well when they visit. After a steady diet of season tickets to the Lyric, we have not been since the Signora joined us. Next weekend will be our triumphant return to the Lyric while the oldsters watch our youngster. (To celebrate, I bought an equally indulgent set of expensive tickets for Dad and I to go the next night). Should be a good weekend.