9 Things : I Love About You

♥ You point to the floor next to you and say "Mama, dee" (Mama, sit) when you want me to come read with you, color, do a puzzle...

♥ When I whisper "I love you" in your ear, you whisper back "I la Mama" (I love Mama) and my heart skips a beat.

♥ When out for push toy walks on the sidewalk, you like to "run" when we see joggers go past us on the sidewalk. It's really cute.

♥ I wake up to the sound of your crib wiggling as you stand up in it, then the sounds of your voice saying "Mama, ee" (Mama, eat). As soon as I walk into your room, you stop fussing or requesting and say "Hi, Mama!" with your trademark enthusiasm.

♥ You request verses of "The Wheels on the Bus".

♥ As I cook dinner, you nearly always request to be up. "Up, Mama. Up, Mama. Up, Mama."

♥ You love the Glee soundtrack right along with me (especially while we're cooking dinner).

♥ You give the best hugs: you snuggle in, wrap your arms around my neck and pat my back. Sometimes with a kiss on the cheek.

♥ Today at your cardiology checkup you totally surprised us by apparently enjoying your echo. As Dr. K covered you in stickers, clips, wires and goop, you laid there for twenty minutes smiling, nodding, chatting and looking over at Dr. K as she worked to say "Hi, dodr" (Hi, Doctor!) over and over.

As I sat there in the hot and dark room with you and Dr. K, I realized today is the two year anniversary of your originally scheduled heart surgery date. Two years ago, at the last minute, another baby needed heart surgery more urgently than you, and so your surgery was rescheduled for six weeks later.

And then, in a wave of nostalgia for your little 3-month-old self, and the complexity of that sweet, sweet, (and heartwrenching) time in your young life, I took a trip down memory lane to look at pictures like this:

and this:

and this:

And then we watched this, and my heart was so, so full, remembering. It's what I do, it's how I process. I bet when I'm 80 years old, I'll sit on the porch in a rocking chair with a glass of lemonade, remembering these sweet moments.