Toddler Hugs

Very few things in the world are as wonderful as hugs from my kids. We begin each day with a "good morning hug" (complete with a song now), punctuate the day with hugs and end each day with a hug. Josiah is in the "I love you so much I want to crush you" stage. Getting a hug from him is sometimes like getting run over by a bulldozer.

Elijah, on the other hand, just figured out hugs yesterday. I was sitting in the living room reading a book when he toddled over (he's starting to take a lot more steps now!) and held his arms up in the classic "pick me up" pose. I gathered him into my lap and we just sat and listened to some music together. Then he leaned into me, wrapped his little arms around my shoulders and squeezed. I said, "Thanks for the hug, Elijah." And something clicked in his little head. Before yesterday Elijah would occasionally squeeze us a bit, but there weren't any obvious hugs. Yesterday, after I thanked him for the first hug, he started giving me a hug every 30 seconds or so. He would lean over and squeeze. I would squeeze back and say, "Thanks for the hug." Then he would let go and sit for a moment before leaning back in for another hug.

Dinner was about fifteen minutes late last night. I was busy being hugged by my toddler and getting dinner ready was not important enough to interrupt us.