"I Love You, Mommy"

This morning, as I picked up my beautiful boy to carry him downstairs for breakfast, he spontaneously declared, "I love you, Mommy."

Wow.

That's the first time he's ever said that, just out of the blue.

He tells me he loves me a lot - but usually it's prompted. Or even forced. But never has he done it on his own volition, so out of context like that.

And I know that years from now, him telling me that won't seem like a big deal. But today, it was almost earth-shatteringly amazing.