I Lo Loo

 

Okay, I’ve officially reached the weepy stages of pregnancy. Hide your feel-good stories, your tragic news reports, your dramatic romance movies, your animal abuse commercials–the hormones have taken over! Tonight Emma Vance was nestled up in the crook of my arm, drinking her nighttime bottle and watching Curious George intently when she looked up at me and mumbled one of my favorite little phrases through a mouth full of milk, and I started to cry a bit. That sob-inducing phrase? “I lo loo,” which, when translated from toddler to English, means, “I love you.” Sigh.

So far in motherhood, having Emma Vance look me in the eyes and call me “Mama” has ranked right on up there. Since that moment, there have been a million other minuscule moments that have challenged its place in my heart, but until tonight, none had succeeded in surpassing it. And then, in an instant, all of those heart-swelling memories faded away at the power of hearing my kid voluntarily say that she loves me. (Let’s just say that “Mama” officially has nothing on “I love you.”) She’s been saying those three little words since October, but most of the time it’s in response to Ryan and I saying them first,  which is a wonderful experience in and of itself. However, tonight not only did she say them without provocation, but for some reason, it felt like she actually meant them for the first time. {insert image of me with a box around my Grinch heart swelling to the point of bursting}

I may never want her to speak another word again in order to savor this moment forever!

My parting thought on this little story is this: God is amazing. Well before her words can keep up with her thoughts or her heart, I know that there is a little person who understands, who feels and who thinks independently living inside that silly little toddler running around my living room. We are given the innate capacity to love and to care from the moment we are born, and that is amazing and unfathomable to me…

Here’s a little video glimpse into how sweet and cute “I love you” can be: EV Says I Lo Loo