100 days!

celebrating 100 days of life, and the birthright of joy.

Dear Friends,

As of today, Lumi is officially 100 days old! The first one hundred days of infancy is an important milestone in some cultures. In Taiwan, many people celebrate 百日宴 (Bǎi Rì Yàn) to signify that the baby has survived the most vulnerable chapter of life, and is now ready to thrive. It’s also considered a significant turning point for maternal health; 100 days postpartum the mother has endured the fourth trimester and is now more resilient.

happy 100 days to this smiley little bear.

I’m still not 100% recovered, but resilience is coming back to me slowly, and the most miraculous thing happened earlier this week: Lumi has learned how to laugh.

At three months old, Lumi and I had our first laugh-off. I would throw back my head and laugh, then she would laugh, then I would laugh, then it was her turn again. Laughter — real, genuine laughter — has to be one of the most marvelous things human beings are capable of.

Apparently our species doesn’t need language, or sight, or even the ability to hear, to experience laughter. Just joy! Babies who are born blind and deaf still learn how to laugh around the same time as sighted and hearing infants (around 3-4 months), which suggests that laughter is an innate human trait, rather than a social behavior learned through visual or auditory cues. The expression of joy is written in our DNA and hardwired into our molecules. It is only later in life that we layer context over everything.