Prelude to a Laugh

Step #1: Capture her attention
At this same age, Rory had two settings: active and asleep. When she was active, she wanted to touch things, be tickled, be shown toys with loud sounds and bright lights. Aven has a third setting: quiet contemplation, which usually comes after the active setting and before the asleep setting. During her quite contemplation setting, Aven finding a snug position somewhere that she can stare at the world.
Step #2: Perform a Funny Stunt
While Mommy and Rory can provoke a laugh by simply talking to Aven, Daddy has to work for his laughs. Typically, he closes his eyes and mouth, and then opens them with a popping sound. On Friday, Daddy got to spend the whole day with Aven by himself while Mommy took a break from her maternity leave to give a presentation at a conference. He had a blast.
Step #3: Repeat as Necessary
Daddy often had to get quite creative to elicit the desired smiles and laughs from Aven. But if kept at it, he could sometimes get a little chuckle from his daughter ...
Step #4: Enjoy!
And speaking about enjoying your kids, I don't think I'll be labeled a "bad daddy" when I confess that some of the best joys of parenthood are associated with getting your kids to sleep. What a joy indeed that these days Sarah and I can get both girls to fall asleep in their beds by 7:45 p.m. and enjoy the rest of the evening "sans les enfants". Both girls then sleep till 6:30 a.m. or so the next morning. (Although Tim still gives Aven that "dream feed" at 10:30 right before he hits the hay).