The sweetest thing

***Disclaimer: I don't have any current pictures today, for it appears as though I used all of them up in the previous post. But to make up for it, tomorrow I'll have a video.***

Playing with his big boy truck. Just before he could walk on his own, Cass would push this around the house for hours.

Lately, Cass has been acting like the sweetest thing you can imagine. When I come home from work, he runs, not walks, to the back door to give me a huge, winning, toothy grin, and then begs to be picked up so that he can give me a hug. He then immediately starts waving and saying "Hiiiiiiiii! Hi, hi, hi, hi". I am not exaggerating; this is actually what happens, and it's enough cuteness in one compact little space to break your damn heart.

When he wakes up in the morning, he starts to whisper to himself veeeery softly "da-da, da-da, da-da" while snuggling with his bear and blanket. When I finally get to the point of actual comprehension and walk over to his crib, his eyes light up and he jumps to his feet and says...wait for it...wait for it...that's right...

"DA-DA!"

Yep. We're both Dada. He then gives me a hug and a lopsided grin, and all (most?) is forgiven.

I've been trying for months to get those precious little syllables out of his mouth - "Mama". When we're getting dressed in the morning, I say "Mama thinks you should wear your Spiderman shirt!" When we sing songs at breakfast, I say "Mama thinks we should listen to the Beatles this morning!". When he points at me and says Dada, I point at myself and say "No, love, I'm Mama". And to this, he giggles and immediately replies "Dada!". <<sigh>> Despite this minor setback, I think we'll keep him; after all, he's super-duper cute and cuddly, whether or not he gets my name right.

In fact, some days he's so darn lovey that I'm trying to find a way to bottle these moments so I can sprinkle myself with his cuddliness when he turns into a tantrum-ridden, snarling toddler. Or, when he becomes a teenager (no adjectives required) - whichever is worse. But for now, I'm reveling in the glory that is "Mommy-is-the-greatest-thing-in-the-world-and-I-love-her-I-love-her-I-love-her-and-want-to-give-kisses-and-hugs-all-day."

I'm freezing and dreaming of spring. This is from our visit to the Arboretum last summer. I'm hoping tomorrow gives us better weather! As an aside, I now realize why warmer weather is called "fairer" weather - it's because it's not fair to make it so mind-numbingly cold all of the time!