Ma, Ma, Mommy

The sweetest word by far that I've ever heard has got to be "mama."  It was as if a light went on in my life the first time Cullen said "mama" and it was more than baby babble; he knew who I was.  It's funny though, because as my children have grown up, we've already hit different stages of our relationship and right now, Cullen and I are entering the "mom" stage.  When I say, "I love you Cullen," he says, "I love you too, Mom."  That used to be "I love you, Mommy" and before that I was "Love you, Mama."

You see, as he grows up, I'm being reminded that he's, well... he's growing up and our relationship is taking on a more toddler-mom dynamic as opposed to a need-you-every-second-of-the-day-mama one.  I've gotta be honest, it sucks.  I want to have totally developmentally capable children, who want to become productive members of society; however, I just want all of that to happen while being their number one gal; that's realistic, right?

As Cullen gets older and more independent with each day, I find myself looking nostalgically at old photos, like the one before, where I was his mama and he was my "baby boy."  Today, he's still my baby boy- pretty sure he always will be, but to him, I'm his Mom- and I'm fine with that, because it's still the sweetest word I've ever heard.