Love You Forever

Have you ever read the book Love You Forever by Robert Munsch? Well, if you haven't...you should! Especially if you are a mother and double especially if you are a mother of a son. It will melt your heart completely and bring you to tears. My Aunt Betsy gave me this book when Cooper was just a few days old, and I remember her telling me that the first time I read the book, I should have Coop in my lap and read the story to him...with some kleenex within reach. I followed her advice and Love You Forever has been one of my favorite books ever since. It's so heartwarming and just a great story of true, raw, unconditional love a mother has for her child.

Over the last week, Coop started picking this book off his bookshelves for me to read before bedtime. The first time he asked me to read this book, I thought we would only make it through a page or two because the pictures aren't as bright and vivid as they are in his usual book choices. But, he completely surprised me, and we made it through the entire book! Which I, of course, loved! Holding him and rocking him and reading this sweet story to my baby. We have now read that book almost every night for the last week, and he has yet to stop me halfway through for a book change.

Tonight at bedtime, we finished reading his first book, one about a train, when he jumped out of my lap and started looking through his shelves asking, "wi go? wi go boy book?" He then spotted a tiny corner of a book poking out behind some others and said, "here is!" He ran to my lap holding Love You Forever.

After I read the book, holding him so tight, he started to flip through the pages, pointing to the different pictures and saying a couple of words that are part of the story for that particular picture. It was just so amazing to see him flipping back through the book and completely on his own kind of reading his version of the story. I didn't say a word. Just listened to him "read" the story again. "aww. baby. rock rock back forth. strange music. mama wadder (ladder). man call mama on phone. talk phone. hold mama." At this point I asked Coop what the mama told the boy and he said "love you ever." And...cue melting heart.

This sweet little moment with my baby couldn't have come at a better time.