Baby love—it warms my heart!

Sometimes it makes perfect sense that we say love is felt in the heart. With babies, just like with other kinds of deep and major love, you don’t always feel it. Sometimes you go through the motions, feeding, picking up, reading Click Clack Moo, figuring out new and interesting ways to stack blocks, and getting through the day. But then, here and there, are moments where you are caught off guard by a burst of warmth, right in the ticker. I’m amazed every time it happens that love can surprise me physically—that without thinking of how much I love him, I feel it. When it happens, I think, Man, not only do I love you, but my heart loves you! And the strangest, smallest things set it off.

For me, here are a few things that quite literally warm my heart:

• The way Wally Ben desperately drinks that first drink from his sippy cup, carefully holding both handles and aiming for his mouth—an effort still, gasping for air between drinks.
• When he can’t do something—open a jar, pull a toy out of his toy box, turn a page of his book because they are stuck together—he pulls his hand away, crinkles it up, pinches his palm, and scowls at it. Then, if he sees me laugh at him, he does it a few more times, more dramatically, just to put on the show.
• The other night in a crowded restaurant, Wally kept screaming for more fries instead of signing that he wanted more. Wally IV was embarrassed, so he angry-whispered his frustration at Wally Ben. After a few times, WV noticed how much it was upsetting his dad, so he decided to yell while standing up and leaning toward him—very obviously trying to push his dad’s buttons, even at 18 months. Bad behavior, but so endearing, since it shows how complex his thoughts can be. He can’t talk, but he can taunt!
• His running hugs. He now runs, like in the movies when two people are running at each other across a field, and tosses himself into us with abandon. There is a moment when he does this that you panic, because he is coming full force, very fast, and you aren’t sure if everyone will make it out of this hug without bruises.
• When he calls me Bob (his new name for me the past month). I pretend I don’t like it, but I really do. Especially when he nods his head, points at me, and says it like it’s a matter of fact.

I hope all you mothers out there have a warm-heart moment this Bob’s Day!