Max likes me!

You may be thinking, “of course Max likes you, you’re his mom!” and you would be partially right. Sure Max likes me just fine when no one else is home, or when he wants a fuzzy or a sippy cup of milk. He tolerates running errands with me and he likes it when I take him to Sonic and order him a grilled cheese sandwich.

But all of my virtues disappear when this guy walks in the door.

Max has had a clear preference for Ernie pretty much since he was able to express a preference. I always joke that it’s because Ernie delivered him.

Funny story, that. No- Max was not born in the car or at home and we got to the hospital in plenty of time. The doctor was really laid back who delivered Max and when he came in to check on us he turned to Ernie and asked him if it was true that this was our fourth child. Ernie confirmed. Then the doctor asked Ernie if he wanted to deliver Max. (Now if you know Ernie at all, then you already know his answer- which was a resounding “yes!”). Ernie has waited his whole life to deliver a baby. He read all about it when I was pregnant with Little Ernie- just in case he needed to deliver. So when it came time for Max to be born, the doctor had the nurse get Ernie some scrubs and gloves and help him get washed up. And that’s how Ernie ended up being the very first person to touch Max.

 

I’ve become accustomed to all this Daddy Love and while it’s true, very occasionally it’s hurt my feelings, in general I’ve accepted that given a choice: Max will choose Ernie instead of me. There are have been serious advantages to this arrangement, to be sure.

Anyhoo- that explains how incredible it is that this weekend, while he was sick, Max has decided that I’m not so bad. He seeks me out for snuggles and he keeps coming over to me and saying, “love poo, Mommy” (since he has somehow misheard the word “you”). He is still just extremely excited whenever he sees Daddy, but it’s been nice to get a little bit of that awesome Max love too.