Is crying contagious?

The bouncy chairs are all lined up in a row.  The babies have all been fed and burped (as much as they submit to being burped) and Daniel has spit up a bit, which usually signals that he's ready to sleep.  Everyone's buckled into their seats so they don't slide into an uncomfortable position.  They're all sleeping like angels.

Until.

Max, who's sitting on the end, starts screaming inconsolably.  So I go over and re-insert his pacifier.  And he screams around the sides of the pacifier.  So I bounce the bouncy chair and chat with him (he likes that) until he calms down.  Whew!  Crisis averted, back to what I was doing.

And then Daniel, who had been sleeping soundly through his brother's meltdown, starts screaming.  Again, for no reason.  He's been fed, and burped, and changed.  I return the paci to his mouth and bounce him and rub his tummy and finally he settles down, his eyes closing in an instant as he drops back into sleep.

And as I walk back across the room to what I was doing, I sneak a look out the corner of my eye at Caroline, wondering when she'll decide that she doesn't want to sit quietly snuggling with her new stuffed lion but rather wants to test out the strength of her little girl lungs.

I bet it won't be long...