(Enzo laughing and playing peek-a-boo with his sister.)
My son said I love you for the first time last night. Not to me, but he said it.
I had been thinking recently about him and this exact phrase. We said "agua" often to him and Enzo picked up that word first. I was thinking about how we say "I love you" to him so often that it's interesting that he hasn't said that yet. I don't want to force him to say that. But really, he hears it so often that I was wondering when he would say it. Some phrases he says that he hears often like "bye, bye" and "Go Oakland!" A funny one is that he was calling me "son" for a while. I would say "bye bye son" in the morning and he started saying to me "Bye bye son." That was funny. I would laugh and say "you're my son, I'm your Papi!" That reminds me of something else. He is starting to say sentences. "Ana play wi ball?" It's neat to see his sentence structure becoming complicated. He is also saying "funny" as when he laughs and then says "Mama funny." Where did he pick up "funny?" I didn't realize he was hearing that word but I like that. Funny is a great word to have in one's vocabulary.
So last night we did as we do every night. With about 10 minutes to his bed time we say "casi tiempo para mimis" to get him thinking about bed time. When it's time I say something like "Ok, tiempo para mimis. Let's pick a book." It's the "book" part that gets him moving. Then he gets up ready to go. We go around so he can kiss his mom goodnight and his sister goodnight. Then, he goes potty, gets in pajamas, picks a book, and we lay on our bellies in bed to read. Last night, after going potty, he ran back to the family room instead of to the bed room. What? I go walking after him and see him with his mom and sister and Tami tells me "He just said 'I love you baby Ana' to his sister."
What? I ask, "did he say it to you?"
"No… to you?"
"No. Well at least he loves his sister."
I love this kid. I have no idea what his concept of love is but I adore the fact that he told his sister that he loves her. I am so looking forward to hearing him say it to me and his mom.
This morning over brushing teeth Tami and I were talking about this again. It's interesting that he told Ana first. It's interesting especially since she loves him too, she adores him, but she has never told him in words. Her first words have not arrived yet. He hears it in words and actions from us over and over but gave it to her in words as a gift first. She deserves it. Tami made a great point; "I guess it's good that he loves his sister so much because he is going to have her longer then he'll have either of us." Good point love.