Misty-Eyed

This morning G came up to me as I drank my coffee in one of our living room chairs, patted my leg and said "my best fwiend, my best fwiend," all while patting my leg. And I said "I'm your best friend?! You're MY best friend!!" and he smiled, gave me a big hug and said "I wuv you!"

Moments like that don't come along very often. In fact, this one took nearly two and a half years. G is not a kid who really likes to be loved on. We do it anyway, when he's not too anti-"lovins", but there are sometimes when we'll ask for a hug and he'll say "Okay, no kisses." or he'll say no to a hug all together. I'm torn, as a mom, on whether I should respect his wishes (because so often he sets out boundaries just to see if he can, not necessarily because they're important to him) or if I should force my hugs and kisses on him because that's what kids need. In addition to this, I am *not* the favorite parent. I'm sure that's part of the plight of the stay-at-home parent, and it's never really bothered me, but to have a little validation once in awhile sure is nice. :)

I'll tell you though, his love language is, without question, words of affirmation. The kid giggles with delight when you sing his praises (sidenote: Erik also laughs when overtaken by happiness - it's pretty sweet and I'm glad G inherited this). It's hard to believe someone so small can communicate something like his love language that so clearly (or that he could communicate that he was mad at daddy for being at (what we call) "big work," (while he was in Thailand last month) because he "missed him.") - but he can. He's becoming a little person now, instead of a baby, and it's so much fun to watch.