Good Pain

For five minutes this evening, baby and daddy had a rollicking conversation. That it consisted of a single word – “hey” – being repeated in various intonations and repetitions didn’t diminish from its delight, or depth.

“Hey,” baby said.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey.”
“Hey, hey,” she said.
“Hey, hey,” I said.
This could have gone on all night, and it would have, but out of the blue baby introduced another sound-symbol to the mix: a clicking noise made by dropping the end of her tongue off the roof of her mouth.
Click, she went.
Click, I went.
Click, click, she went.
Click, click, I went.

Eventually, we learned that clicks and “hey”s could be alternated and mixed in limitless variations. Did I mention that while this conversation took place that mom, dad, and baby were all laughing till our stomachs ached, smiling till our faces hurt? Good pain.