social laughter

You've been in a situation where you're near a group of people and can hear everything they say, and one person says something really funny. They all burst into laughter — it seems uncontrollable, like a natural reflex. You think it's very very funny too, but you don't burst into laughter. You smile and keep pretending to read your Harry Potter book for the fifth time, thus proving that laughter is not a natural reflex at all.

In fact, laughter is a social activity. I've been aware of this, as you have, for some time, but it's recently been drummed into my head again and again in the funnest way. Greta! She'll be around when Catherine and I begin laughing together at something, and she'll pipe up from the back seat, or come closer and join in, like a dog who has sensed something festive is going on and wags into the middle of things. Greta understands that you laugh not because you can't help it; you can. You laugh because you belong.

It's the most fun in the world. She has an infectious laugh, full of delight and pure joy. She's very very socially aware. I just love watching her develop bit by bit, into — who knows who? I can't wait to hang out with her and share a good laugh over something really funny, that she said.