He clapped his hands together in delight several times during the program and cooed in pleasure whenever the cartoon characters spoke. The worst part was that the baby drooled incessantly; his little chest and stomach were constantly wet with his spit. Howard held the baby at his waist, trying to keep him upright and immobile on his lap while avoiding the streams of saliva that ran down the baby’s protuberant tummy. After a while, he forgot about the little one and went back to watching his cartoons.
Twenty minutes later, the baby started getting fussy and the mother came over and put a baby bottle in his mouth. Howard was asked to hold it while the baby fed and did so without a word.