Disclaimer: This post is much gooier than usual. In fact, it has a gooiness quotient of 7.65 on a scale of ten where zero is any song from Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill and ten is Butterfly Kisses. You have been warned.

My friends all told me how unbelievably loving little boys are. Although it seemed a rather generalized statement, I hoped they were right. After all, as thoughtful and kind as Ali is, she would much rather sit and have a logical discussion about the pros and cons of having Teal as one’s fourth favorite color than give me a hug.

And sure enough, my friends were right.

OhMyGoodness Noah adores me.

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(And Chris and Ali, but I like to pretend that he loves me the best.)

He has gotten sweeter and sweeter by the day. Over the past few months, he’s been randomly crawling up to me and laying his head on my leg, arm, stomach, or whatever he can reach at the time.

But last week, he increased his adorability stock by tenfold.

He always hugs us by laying his head on our shoulder, saying “mmmmmm”, and patting our back or arm with his hand.

So to speed communication along, he invented his own sign language to let us know when that needed to happen.

The definition of this sign is most clearly “I wish I were hugging you right now.”

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He uses this sign in three ways.

Sweetness Degree 1. If he’s crawling around and all of a sudden realizes that his love tank is running low, he’ll look up at me, put his hand on the side of his face, say “mmmmm”, then crawl as fast as he can to come get his desired hug.

Sweetness Degree 2. If he’s stuck in his high chair or car seat and he wishes he weren’t, he knows how to talk his way out.

I wish I were hugging you right now.

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(This particular application causes a severe issue of crunchy/sticky hair glops around his ear.)

And finally, if he’s thinking of someone that he loves that’s not around, he applies…

Sweetness Degree 3. He gets a faraway dreamy look in his eyes and repeats their name while making his sign.

“Da Da….”

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I wish I were hugging you right now.

Mental Note: Come back and read this post the next time he decides to scream relentlessly during naptime.

25 thoughts on “Signs of Love.

  1. My son is 16 years old, 6’2″ 230# and he still always comes in the same room and snuggles in next to me to watch TV. It never gets old! Enjoy every minute.

  2. How unbelievably sweet! It almost made me tear up. Or even better, for a moment I actually considered trying for a boy so I could get some love. 2 girls =big time daddy love. But, I would be terrified of having another girl. 2 is great for now, but 3 girls sends me into a twitching mode as I think about the teenage years. :)

  3. Everyone told me the same thing – and boy were they right! I used to think I would just die if I didn’t have a little girl to dress up and play with her hair, but as I have secretly told a few friends lately, I don’t care if I never have anything BUT boys! Landon’s started the laying his head on my shoulder/leg/whatever’s closest thing too, and it just makes my heart melt! He went through a stage for about a month where he didn’t want to be rocked or snuggled and it almost broke my heart, so this stage is a welcome relief. His little signal is the cutest thing… thinking longingly of who he’d like to hug!

  4. Ally is very lovey for a girl, and not just with Daddy. In fact, I’m pretty sure he thought she would love me best forever and ever, but now she’s an equal opportunity love-giver for both of us.

    The best part of my day happens multiple times a day when she wants cuddles and says “Mommy, I just love you.”

    *MELT*

  5. Oh my – if I didn’t have my own uber sweet and cuddly 2yo, I would immediately go get pregnant again after reading this.

  6. Awww…he is so cute! I only have boys so I can’t really verify that statement, but I do know that my two-year old is very loving and my 4-month old is very cuddly and sweet, but he doesn’t really have a choice yet. :)

  7. Oh my goodness. That is the sweetest thing ever! Now I really do want a boy! I’ve been thinking I’m good with just my girls because it seems like I only hear horror stories about how much more difficult boys are and how they are so loud and get into everything. But it sounds like they are totally worth it. :)

  8. Little boys are great! Our son just turned 3 and I am happy to tell you…it gets even better. I love the random hugs and I Love Yous.

    1. I tried doing sign language with him back in the summer, but instead of even attempting the “more” sign, he just started saying “MORE!!”, so I decided he’d rather be verbal and gave up. His recent love for sign language is totally of his own doing!

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