I love the way Marlowe’s front tooth sticks out slightly and is sort of crooked right now as it wiggles its way loose.

I love the way Dylan’s eyes twinkle when he looks at me after he knows he’s done something he wasn’t supposed to.

I love it when Marlowe goes into big sister/teacher mode and says “Good Job, Buddy!!” when Dylan accomplishes a task.

I love the way Dylan puts ear phones on and sings at the top of his lungs and does his perfect Dylan dance.

I love Marlowe’s unique fashion sense and fierce art skills.

I love how Dylan wanted to watch football highlights yesterday morning after Sunday's game.

I love Marlowe’s full belly laugh.

I love Dylan’s choke-hold hugs.

I love Marlowe’s love for jokes and riddles.

I love how Dylan talks in his sleep.

I love that Marlowe’s favorite things to eat are fruits and vegetables.

I love that Dylan goes right for the potato chips.

I love that they make hubby be a “bull” so they can play rodeo (and I love that hubby does it, repeatedly).

I love that they sing while they get dressed or clean up toys.

I just love them. I want it to be a whisper that follows them in the wind. IloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyouIloveyou.

Even when they push every limit of patience I have. Even when they make a huge mess in the room I just attempted to clean. Even when they refuse to listen. Even when they are perfectly human, which is to say they are perfectly imperfect. It’s easy to forgive them their imperfections because they are children, and because they are my children, and because a whole new room of my heart opened up the moment they were born.

But, aren’t we all perfectly imperfect? None of us are always exactly lovable, but all of us have qualities worth loving. None of us gets it right all the time, but most of us are usually trying our best. We’re usually much better at remembering this with children than we are with our colleagues, our friends, our partners. I wonder how our interactions would change if we focused on the things we love about each other versus the things that drive us crazy. In fact, I wonder how our perception of the entire world would shift when looked at through that lens.

Someone sent me this quote over the weekend: We are mosaics. Pieces of light, love, history, stars… glued together with magic and music and words. Anita Krizzan

How beautiful a thing, to see the mosaics that surround us.

So… who do you love, and what do you love about them?