At first I didn't quite know how to respond. I wasn't sure where the comment was leading, but the conversation shifted to something else and I didn't think too much more about it.
Until recently.
Now I think am beginning to understand what she was talking about. Oh man, Bear charms my socks off sometimes. At 2-1/2, he frequently doesn't know how charming he is. Which makes it really fun because it's so innocent.
I want to share some of our little conversations that illustrate what I'm talking about. These sweet little love notes just keep coming out of his mouth. I can't figure out where they are coming from since he does not hear talk like this from his Dada! Here's a sampling.
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Bear says to me as I am walking down the stairs after getting ready for work:
Oh mama, pretty necklace! I LOVE it!
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Last Saturday morning as he crawled into bed with me:
Me: Good Morning Bub, did you have sweet dreams?
Bear: Yeah.
Me: What did you dream about?
Bear's eyes sparkle as he whispers: Mama! Then he breaks out the sweetest uncontainable smile.
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He slayed me with this one. After going pee pee on the potty (we're sort of potty training) I was having a hard time putting his diaper back on while he was standing up. I stood over him and put my arms around him to try to keep him from wiggling and get it fastened again.
Bear looked up at me, gently stroked my face, and said, "Beauuutifal."
[I had to explain afterwards that it wasn't his going pee pee that made mama cry.]
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We finally transitioned him to a big boy bed over the weekend. It's Dodd's old futon from grad school with a new mattress. I slept with Bear most of the night that first night so he wouldn't be afraid. I woke up around 2am sensing a little hand squeezing my cheeks together. Next thing I knew, my face was being gently turned. Without my suspecting anything, he planted a kiss on my lips. Then without a word, he fell back to sleep.
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Bear and I have dinner each night just the two of us because Dodd is usually not home from work yet. These dinner conversations have turned into, well, actual little conversations.
Wednesday's conversation:
Bear: You have good day work mom? Shovels some food in his mouth.
Me, a little bit startled that he initiated the question: Why yes Bub, I did.
Bear: You see you friends?
Me, even more startled he hit the conversational ping pong back a second time: Why yes, I did see my friends.
Bear: Ohhhh, that's good. Keeps eating.
Friday night's conversation. This one troubles me a little bit because I wasn't aware I was communicating an emotion to him. My busy boy is usually more tuned into me than I realize, even when he was a baby:
Bear: You sad mama?
Me: You know, I guess I am a little sad kiddo.
Bear: Don't be sad mama! I give you hug?
Me: Yeah, Mom would like that.
Bear reaches over the dinner table to give me a hug and pat my arm.
Bear: You happy?
Me: Wow, now I am kiddo.
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I often play the "Do you know how much I love you?" game with him. If he says no, I always start with "I love you more than all the stars in the sky." Then if he still wants to play I go to "Higher than the moon." Each time I try to tack on a new one. "Brighter than the sun, deeper than the ocean, more than all the fishies in the sea."
When I asked him a few weeks ago in the car if he knew how much I loved him, I got a very matter of fact reply: All da starrrs, mooon, sky, sunshine, fishies.......[long pause]........ocean, and......ALL DA CROCODILES, chomp chomp!"
His custom, all boy addition to the liturgy had me laughing. Then he turned his head as if he was talking to someone else and said the following. He shook his arm with each word for emphasis, much like a preacher would.
Bear: My sweet mama loves me much much!
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When Dodd squeezed my knees while we were all on the sofa watching The Jungle Book, I laughed and mock sternly asked him to STOP tickling me. Bear looked over at Dodd and very firmly said, "No Dada, Mama noan like." Then Bear covered my knees with his body, looked at me and said "I keep you safe Mom."
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My little boyfriend even gets jealous. If another child sits on my lap, holds my hand, or wants to read a story, he puts one hand on me and puts his other hand out in front of the child and says, "No, MY Mama!" I have decided Bear is allowed to be possessive in the name of attachment but we are going to have to work on this a little bit to prepare for little brother or sister. Fortunately we have some time.
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Like I said, he is coming up with this on his own. Dodd does NOT say this stuff to me and I don't say it to Dodd. I don't know how long this little stage will last but I unashamedly admit I am enjoying it. It makes up for his other 2-1/2 year old moments that involve fits and "No" and temper tantrums.
I figure if I don't document these things now, I might forget there was a time he thought I was all that. If I don't forget I'm pretty sure he will. When he does, I will have no problem pulling out this blog post to remind him.
My boy. Sigh. I can't help it. It doesn't help that he seems to get more handsome every day!
*swoon* What a total sweetheart!
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