Ooooooooooohhh Johnny!

In all my life, I've never heard a happier sound than my son laughing. The harder he laughs, the happier it makes me. I can't help but laugh, when he laughs, especially when he really gets tickled and laughs loudly.

An observation I've made in the past, I think, is that from day to day, I never know what is going to make John Patrick laugh. In other words, I may do, say or sing something one day and he'll find it uproariously funny. Then, the next day, I do the same thing and all I hear are crickets. Nothing but silence and maybe a look from him that says, "Daddy, that was funny yesterday, not today."

Last night, Jude and I were still sitting at the dining room table, after dinner, while John Patrick ran in and out of the dining room, playing. For no real reason, I looked at him and said, loudly, "oooooooooooooooh, Johnny!" No sooner were the words out of my mouth than he started laughing and making the "more" sign with his hands. Again, I said, "oooooooooooooooh, Johnny!" and he laughed even louder. I kept saying it and, each time, he laughed harder and louder, finishing with a squeal. It was hilarious. Each time he started laughing, Jude and I laughed, right along with him.

Tonight, I tried it again. He laughed a little bit, but nothing like last night. By tomorrow, I'm sure, I'll need to come up with something else to make him laugh. I think I'm up for the challenge. When I think about it, if I can make my son laugh at some point every day, then I've got a lot of pretty good days ahead of me.