Ouv Foo!

Dear Princess,

Forgive me, I'm feeling sappy and warm hearted right now, even though I'm really not feeling well... and I was just looking at your Ellfant and remembering how I was mad when you painted his 'nails', but now I'm glad you did... because it reminds me of you.  And then it reminded my of another time, when you were only about three... and what I would've ordained as a miracle happened, were it in my power.

You were always my quiet one, unless you were having a fit.  Three years old and the only words you said were 'Mama' and 'Boo' (Blue), neither one of them usually at the appropriate time, object or person.

So imagine my surprise, when one day after I picked you up when I was done with school, we were taking a nap together in my bed like we always did (it was the only time I got cuddles!) and you woke up a little bit after I did.  I was fiddling with my cell phone like I usually did while I waited for you to wake, because you always slept on my left arm.  I saw you wake up and said "Good morning, Livvy!  I love you!"

You looked at me quizzically for a moment, and then said "Foo?"  And I replied "I love you," again, enunciating each word so you could hear exactly what I was saying.  And then out of nowhere, you opened your mouth again.

"Ouv Foo!"

Someone who didn't know you as well as I did might've mistaken it for toddler jabber, but I knew.  You said your first "I love you"... to me.  I smiled and praised, "Yes, Livvy, I love you, that's right!  I love you, I love you, I love you!"  Then I pulled up the voice recorder on my phone in case you said it again, and you didn't disappoint.  You echoed me.

"Ouv Foo, Ouv Foo, Ouv Foo!"

I still have that cell phone, the one with your first "I love you" on it.. and the charge cord... I'm not letting go of that.  Over and over you said it, once you realized how happy it made me.  I don't know if you knew what it meant, but you knew it was good and happy, and that we meant it toward each other - and that was enough for me.  Sometimes, I'd pull out that phone and show someone, "Look, here's my baby saying I love you!"  Nobody was ever as impressed as I was, but I was proud of you.  The first phrase I ever heard you say, and it wasn't "I want" or "That's mine"... it was "I love you".  Because that's just the sweet gentle little girl you always were.  Well - until you started trapping cats in corners and having meltdowns over popsicles, but hey, my sweet girl was still in there.

Days like today, it really makes me smile to remember those first little phrases.
Ouv Foo too, baby girl.
Katie