The evening my little two-year-old said "I LOVE YOU, mamma" for the very first time was amazing.
I straight away (of course) made him say it like 74 more times so I could catch it on my phone and make him repeat it via Facetime to my parents and really everyone who happened to be logged into their Facetime at that moment (sorry, guys!)
Talk about three little words having the power to make your heart literally explode out of your chest and dance around on the floor.
The thing is, though, Luca's little declaration of love for me came after a tres stressful trip around the shops where he would not sit in his buggy and made me chase him through the aisles of M&S, spilling my much-needed coffee all over my coat and the floor, before throwing a tantrum so epic that it don't think I have entirely recovered yet.
But, then, three little words and that whole shopping debacle was forgotten about. I was once again utterly consumed by his cuteness and his face and his chubby little arms and counted my blessings as I put his pyjama-clad self to bed that night.
Which made me ponder, what is it about toddlers that makes them so totally adorable? That even though they can literally make us weep with exhaustion, four minutes and two sloppy kisses later it is all forgiven and forgotten? Maybe it's nature's clever way. The toddler years are an era where children can often cause havoc or be found on the floor, mid melt-down, but nobody, I mean nobody, does cute like a toddler. Which, coincidentally, is their saving grace.
In fact, here are ten more things toddlers always do that is pure CUTENESS:
1. The way they ALWAYS dance
Toddlers just don't stop moving at all. And while keeping up with them can be exhausting, it is also amazing to witness their abundance of happy energy.
2. The way they dish out leg hugs
Is there anything in this world more AMAZING than getting a good leg hug from a toddler?!
3. The way they never stop talking
Like with the dancing, the constant chatter can make your ears ring, but hearing their little voice blabbering away is also pure heart-candy.
4. The way they call anyone younger than themselves a ‘baby’
To a toddler, anyone smaller than them is a 'baby'. Bless.
5. The way they laugh
I feel my ovaries literally skipping a beat just a the mere thought of the cuteness of laughing toddlers. Also, I love the way toddlers just laugh out loud randomly. Adults usually have to wait for something funny to happen to be allowed to laugh. Not toddlers. Everything is laughable to them. Which, you know, is all sorts of cute.
6. The way they talk
Hello, cuteness! Hearing toddlers talk just gets me. Every. Single. Time.
7. Their ability to shut the world out
Ever tried talking to a toddler who is busy watching TV or colouring or, in fact, doing anything? Toddlers have the ability only to care about what they are doing in that exact moment themselves, what everyone else is doing is of no interest whatsoever.
8. The way they look when they are asleep
I have been known to sob from the sheer cuteness of sleeping children...
9. The way they are determined
Nobody has the determination of a toddler trying to do something ALL BY HIMSELF.
10. The way they love
Nobody, and I mean nobody, loves like a toddler. They love with their whole body and heart, they will scramble over toys and siblings to get to you for a hug, and will shower you with neck squeezes and sloppy kisses and excited screams of joy – just for having walked through the door. Drink it in, mamas. Being loved by a toddler is probably the greatest love you will ever have lavished on you.
