Sounds

We just passed the 7-month mark with our little guy. There are so many fun things happening with him right now. What that stood out the most to me this week were his sounds. He has quite a few of them now, and they are all hilarious.
One of my favorite noises is one I like to call “motorboat.” At the most random times, he will press his lips together into a kind of pucker and start blowing through them, producing a sputtering sound much like an old rickety motorboat. It’s usually accompanied by a frothy cloud of spit bubbles that gathers around the edges of his mouth, eventually dripping down off his chin. He’ll do this for a couple of minutes at a time, pausing only to inhale more air to keep the sound going. It gets everyone else in our family laughing hysterically. He usually ends his concert with a huge grin that spreads across his entire face and a standing ovation from his audience. 
He also recently started doing another noise that I refer to as “nom nom.” He usually performs this number at inconvenient times such as the middle of an important conversation or right at our favorite part of the song we’re all listening to. He makes this sound while nursing. While he’s latched on, he will make a noise between breaths that sounds like he’s loudly humming a heavy metal ballad. It sounds a little bit like he’s trying to say the words “nom nom” but with a boob in his mouth. It’s surprisingly loud, which makes it extremely difficult to hear anything else.
And we can’t for get about “tee hee.” This is the sound he usually makes after someone does something to make him laugh, whether that is tickling, peekaboo, or just simply going cross-eyed a few inches in front of his face. This sound is preceded by a gigantic grin that causes his cheeks and chin to pile up in mounds at the edges of his face. That part is silent. After he holds the cheesy grin for a few seconds, he then lets out the noise. It’s pretty much like a laugh mixed with a squeal. I call it “tee hee,” but one cannot make a true “t” sound without teeth. I call it this because it’s like he’s trying to say “tee hee” but it all comes entirely from the back of his throat and his lungs. It’s more like a high-pitched exhale with the modulation of a giggle added in.
It’s the motorboat, nom nom, and tee hee moments of parenting that bring about so many moments of delight in the simple little things about our children. They each have their own unique comedy acts that bring smiles to our faces. Right now, our little guy is brightening our lives with his undeniably cute noises. I’ll cherish the memory of these sounds forever.