I recently saw a stand-up comic on TV who said something that made me think. Why does everyone – the young, the old, the mean, the nice – smile when they see a baby?

Is it because they’re cute? Most of the time, yes. But surely not all babies are cute. If all babies were cute, how do you explain Rosie O’Donnell? Did she peak at age zero? Has it been downhill for her ever since then? Maybe, just maybe, she was never cute to begin with. And if that’s true with Rosie, couldn’t it be true with others?

(On a side note: Every single kitten, without exception, is cute. It’s a scientific fact. For proof, I offer Exhibits A and B.)

If it’s not always cuteness, what is it about babies that makes us smile whenever we see them?

Answer: Birthday Cake.

Everyone loves birthday cake. Even diabetics love birthday cake. And when we see a baby, we think of birthday cake. On that baby’s first birthday, there will be cake. On its 10th birthday, there will be cake. Assuming the baby lives to be 100, there will have been 100 birthday cakes created and eaten in his/her lifetime to celebrate the passing of each year.

Why do we smile?

Because we think maybe, just maybe, we’ll get to eat some of that cake.