you and husband!satoru experiencing some of your baby’s firsts ^^
⟢ ּ ۪ ⊹ her first laugh was at his expense. he had been walking around the house, trying to get her to stop fussing, when he turned a corner and his toe accidentally connected with the wall. it took everything he had not to expose his poor daughter to foul language at an innocent 4 months, but holy fuck did that hurt. he was wincing in pain when he heard it. the quiet giggle of his baby.
he whipped his head up in accusation, demanding, “did you just laugh?? at me stubbing my toe?” as if she could answer. he turned to you, who was sitting on the couch folding laundry. “you heard that, right?”
you nodded, watching the interaction. “she laughed at you. pretend to do it again.”
he walked backwards slowly and pretended to hit his foot again with an exaggerated “ow!” and lo and behold, the baby burst into loud giggles and squealing, her tiny body just wracked with laughter like it was the funniest thing she’d ever seen. satoru was astonished and extremely sentimental.
“she’s totally laughing at me getting hurt!” your husband chuckled in disbelief, turning to you with accusation like you were going to do something about this. “her first laugh ever and it’s at me stubbing my toe. she hates me.”
“she’s a baby, she can’t hate anything yet,” you offered, giggling. “she thinks it’s funny ‘cause you make that stupid face every time you accidentally hurt yourself.”
“so you hate me too? got it,” he grumbled, giving you a nasty side-eye before focusing back on the giggling infant in his arms. “you are just in stitches, huh? huh?” he cooed, tickling her tummy. funny enough, though, tickling actually stopped her laughter. satoru looked her in the face skeptically, and she stared back with those huge eyes like she was expecting him to hurt himself again for her amusement.
“…so you’re exclusive to me getting hurt? that’s funny to you, but not being tickled like a normal baby?”
⟢ ּ ۪ ⊹ her first time crawling happened when you two had been playing around on the carpet, her tiny body propped between your legs so she could “sit” against your belly and play with the toys in front of her. she seemed to be having the time of her life with the same old rattle and stuffed bear, until she accidentally shook the former too hard and flung it under the coffee table.
“uh-ohhh,” you smiled down at her as she turned her head to blink up at you like it was your fault. “what happened, silly girl?” she only squealed, waving her chubby arms and grabbing at your hands as if to demand you go get it.
satoru came from the bathroom and plopped onto the carpet with you two, ready to grab the rattle and hand it back to his daughter, but you stopped him. “wait, let her try to get it.”
gently, you nudged your baby’s back to encourage her, pointing at the rattle. “look, munchkin, there it is, see?” you cooed, helping her onto her tummy to make it easier for her. “can you crawl to daddy and get it?”
satoru whipped his phone out immediately. “come on, princess! cooommee on, come to daddy! you can do it!”
she was apprehensive at first, but curiosity, and a need for her toy, seemed to get the best of her. it was a bit of a struggle, her tiny body wriggling in place for a moment before she discovered her arms and legs weren’t completely useless. the baby was wobbly, but she eventually began to crawl, one stride at a time.
“oh my god!” satoru started hollering before you could even get the words out. “ohmygodohmygodohmygod.”
“you’re getting this??” you made sure, and he nodded furiously. both of you continued to cheer her on until she made it to both her father and the rattle (she really only wanted one of those things) without ever toppling over. she shrieked as her dad picked her up, smushing her chubby cheeks with his lips, praising and cuddling her.
“good jooobbb, princess!” he cooed, tossing her in the air. “oouuuhh, you’re gonna be running around soon… stop growing so fast, you’re gonna give daddy gray hair…”
⟢ ּ ۪ ⊹ her first steps were just as dramatic, if not more. you and satoru had been practicing letting her stand on her own, but she was just shy of 12 months, right around the age to take a few experimental steps if she so pleased. satoru wasn’t ready.
“if she starts walking, that means she’ll be running around soon!” he’d complained to you during tummy time. he’d placed a hand on her little head like it would stop her from growing completely. “and once she starts running, she’ll wanna talk to boys and then she’ll be bringing one home and he’ll be a total asshole and then i’ll have to—”
“language,” you had corrected him sternly.
“—sorry, he’ll be a total loser, is that better, and then i’ll have to kill him!” he’d flopped over onto the carpet in his all-encompassing sorrow, an arm over his face like an idiot, demanding, “tell her not to grow up! tell her!”
it was that conversation that played in your head as you watched your baby girl let go of your husband’s trembling hands and begin to waddle on her tiny feet towards you across the carpet. the same tiny feet that you and satoru had fussed over and kissed countless times when she was just a newborn.
satoru couldn’t get his phone out fast enough, and the tears along with it. you left him alone about it this time: you felt more than a little misty-eyed yourself.
“c’mon, sweet girl!” you encouraged her, beaming as the excitement of it all made her giggle. “come to mommy!” she fell into your arms, just a bundle of loud laughter as you and satoru congratulated her with all the praise in the world.
𐔌 ۪ ઈઉ ᩙ a/n:: another part to the baby series