Who's not tired?

For years we've been told that laughter is the best medicine. Turns out it's also a pretty good stall technique.

Thursday evening at bedtime, I told Sydney to go and crawl up on the couch while I finished typing something on the computer. Of course it took me longer than I'd expected to wrap things up, and so a few minutes later, Sydney came wandering in looking for me. With mock severity, I told her go and get back up on the couch. She squealed, and then turned around and ran.

Game on.

Less than a minute later she was back, daring me to chase her.

"Up on the couch!" I ordered, as she again turned with a giggle and ran from the room.

We did this two or three few more times. The expression on her face was so comical there was no way I could yell at her. Instead, I grabbed the camera, so that the next time she came bursting into the room, I was ready for her.

Ohhh... the giggles. I'm wishing I'd grabbed the video camera instead, just so I could have captured the sound.

There are very few stages of my children's lives that I miss once they've outgrown them. Probably because so far I've enjoyed each new stage and level of ability more than the previous one. But I know I'm going to miss the high-pitched laugh that accompanies the toddler stage. There's no faking it. It's the sound of sincerity and pure joy, and I do believe one of the most beautiful sounds our ears will ever here.

AJ no longer laughs like that. I'm vowing to savor every second of it with Sydney. I think she's figured that out.