Every mother must know that, at some point, there will be competition for her child’s affection.  Movies, friends, television . . . teddy bears?

Jacob’s at the point where, if he’s awake when I come in to get him in the morning, he’ll smile when he sees me.  Often when we’re playing together and I’m trying to get him interested in some toy or other, he’ll look right past the toy and smile when he sees my face.

His smile is the most adorable, most wonderful thing in the world, and it’s even better when I know it happened because of something I did, or simply because I’m there.  He’ll do the same thing with John; I’ve never seen a little boy love his daddy more.

But there’s one thing that trumps both Mommy and Daddy in our Peanut’s mind: the teddy bears on the Pack ‘N Play mobile.

These little guys were the first things at which he consistently smiled—including John and me—and they still delight him.  If the baby books say that most kids focus on black and white images and then bright colors, then our little one is the exception.  These small, brown bears with just about zero contrast are hands down, the greatest things in the universe.

I’ve resigned myself to defeat for the time being.  Someday Jacob will outgrow the teddy bears, but I’ll still be there, waiting to make him smile.

John, on the other hand, seems to be taking a more . . . aggressive approach.

Whatever works, right?