To keep him from terrorizing the cat, we play a game that is a mixture between Hide-and-Seek and Peek-a-Boo.  He hides in a nook, I hide around the corner and jump out and scare him and he finds this hilarious.  Sometimes he rushes out to scare me before I can scare him, and he finds that even funnier.  He takes his position and I take mine. 

"Where’s my baby?"  I taunt.  He comes rushing out to scare me, huge grin on his face, high-pitched giggling.  I make a big deal out of it and act like I am terrified.  He giggles and stretches his arms out to me so I’ll pick him up.  I bring him up to me and we stare at each other for a moment.  He says the one thing that melts my heart every time.

"Momma,"  he says in his sweet voice.

"Oh, precious.  Momma loves you."  I say as I kiss him many many times on his cheeks.  He tolerates it for a minute or so before wanting back down on the floor.  He walks around the kitchen, bouncing off of the cabinets like a pinball, giggling and having a great time.  I stand back out of his way but close enough so he knows I’m there.  He looks back at me once or twice to give me a smile.  I think to myself how blessed I am to have such a wonderful little person in my life. 

He goes into the dining room and tries to get into the cat food. 

"No."  I say in a stern voice.  He looks back at me and moves on to something that won’t get him in trouble.  He’s a wonderful listener.  He continues getting into stuff and looking around until it starts getting close to nap time.  He comes up to me and grabs my leg and nuzzles his face into my hip.  I reach down and stroke his head, the feel of his strawberry hair is fine and silky on my fingers.  He looks up at me and extends his arms again.

"Momma,"  he says.  I pick him up and kiss him and hold him as I sway from side to side for a bit.  He lays his head on my shoulder and rubs his eyes.  I kiss his cheek and he presses his face harder to me, enjoying the affection.  I walk up the stairs with him in my arms and kiss him the whole way up.  He smiles up at me and holds on to me.  I kiss him again and tell him that I love him before putting him in his crib.  I make sure he has his special blankey and his puppy before leaving the room. 

For those of you who are not yet parents but who wish to do so someday, I dearly hope you have the same great experience in parenthood that I have had so far.  I can’t imagine loving anything more than my Lukas.  He’s the sunshine in my day, every day.