"Hold you, Mommy"

I often joke that if I had a penny for every time Handley said the phrase, "hold you, Mommy" I'd be rich! It's kind of an inside joke with our family. She is generally happy to be running around and is often pretty independent when we are at home. However, if she is feeling tired, fussy or nervous (like in new situations, around new people or in a new place) she starts repeating her request to be held over, and over, and over, and over. At times she'll run all three words together and even says it if I'm already holding her. It's become her way of saying she needs to be comforted.

Yesterday I was cleaning up the dishes from lunch and she wanted to be held. She kept repeating, "hold you, Mommy." I told her, "as soon as I am done with the dishes I will be happy to hold you." She must have listened pretty well because the rest of the day she said, "happy hold you" when she wanted to be held. :-)