Mama, home...

 home  noun \ˈhōm\

Definition of HOME

a: one's place of residence 

Leyla surprises us with new words all the time... sometimes we have to ask her twice what she said because we can't believe our ears. The other day Mike's phone's alarm went off and started chirping like crickets and Leyla said, "MOON". How genius is that?!? Mike and I looked at each other with satisfied grins like, "Uh huh, that's right! That's OUR daughter!" By the way, Leyla pronounces "moon" the way our cheesy Italian tour guide in Venice would have (ask me or Mike about that story... it's a good one! I digress...) She says it very slowly and carefully. "Moon-eh"... Like, "The glow of the moon-eh is eh-nothing compared to your-eh beauty". OK, so enough with my bad Italian accent...

Last night when I went to pick Leyla up from school, she was sitting on her teacher Amy's lap and reading a book. When she saw me, she gave me that heart-melting smile and said, "Mamaaaa! Home!" I'd never heard her say the word "home" before... Just to make sure I asked her, "Leyla, mama what?" and she said it again... "Home". I wanted to cry right there on the spot because it hit me that Leyla sees me and thinks of home...and hopefully all the warm goodness that I want home to be for her. The dictionary defines the word "home" as a place of one's residence. To Leyla, it is that and so much more... it's where Mama and Dada keep her safe and happy... it's where Mr. Teddy Bear waits patiently for her every day... it's where her dogs Stella and Maui lick her through the screen door... it's where Mama does her hair every morning before school... it's where Dada sings her favorite silly songs,

and best of all... 

it's where the love is...

Have a wonderful weekend!