YouTube's famous laughing baby is 5 years old

This story first appeared on babble and is reprinted with permission.

Sometimes a laugh can add sunshine to a down day -- especially if it's one of those authentic, uncontrollable, body-shaking ones. After all, laughter is good for the mind, body and soul, no matter the age. So it's no wonder that the sound of a baby laughing can often heal the heart.

Which brings me to my special friend, Micah. Although you might not have met him, chances are you've met his laugh. It's kind of famous.

When Micah's dad, Marcus, uploaded his first video to YouTube in 2011 and titled it "Baby Laughing Hysterically at Ripping Paper," he had no idea that the video would instantly go viral and be hailed by the media as one of the most popular Internet sensations.

And yet, the fact that Micah's video currently has almost 80 million views doesn't seem to hold a candle to the gigantic soft pretzel this 5-year-old boy is about to consume during our interview in our local mall's food court.

"What is your favorite thing to do?" I ask him.

"Play trains," he says. "And go to baseball games."

And then, unprompted, he names all the key players on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball team. He excitedly punctuates each name with an interesting stat or vignette, like "that player has already made four home runs this season" or "this rookie is practicing to become of the top players."

I'm impressed.

We chat about all the things that matter in his life at the moment. Like that he's on a Little League team. His favorite food at Starbucks is the yogurt granola. He really wants to ride the train in the mall. His "Popa" (grandfather) is building him a miniature Disneyland in his backyard.

I apparently say something funny because Micah laughs. It's very similar to the one in his video, and I can't help but laugh too.

And then I ask: "Did you know that the video of you laughing at ripping paper has made a lot of people happy?"

"Yeah," he answers.

"How does that make you feel?"

"Really good."

"What makes you laugh, Micah?"

"Ruby," he says. "When she does silly things and makes herself laugh. Then I laugh."

Ruby is Micah's 3-year-old younger sister. He also has a 10-month-old sister named Maisy.

I eye his pretzel wrapping paper, tempted. "If I ripped paper in front of you right now, would you laugh?"

"No," he says, and then looks up and smiles, as though not to hurt my feelings.

"How about if we watched your video together - would you laugh then?"

"No," he says sweetly. "But I would smile really big."

Images courtesy of Cori Linder.

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