I’m loving my new cell. The great reception, phenomenal battery life, fun music-playing abilities are all good qualities, but they are nothing compared to the new use we have found for this contraption.

This new phone, like so many others, has the capabilities to record and play videos. The unique-ness comes when you factor how we use this attribute to facilitate some family love.

Let me explain: The video feature is my toddler’s absolute favorite new hobby/creature-comfort/bedtime ritual. My child may not watch television every day, but she IS quite addicted to the videos on this phone. Take a video of grass growing, and she’ll sit transfixed for hours. So we utilize this.

We take videos of family that all live in different states. She rarely gets the chance to see these people, and as a result, does not say their names and even refuses to say she loves them.

Through online video-talking capabilities, I was able to record Josh’s parents and sister singing “Happy Birthday” to Benjamin. Olivia requested that video for a week. And by the end, she could spout off the names, “Gammy, Pop-Pop, and Shannie” with incredible ease. This cell phone video thing was definitely working for me.

So this past weekend, when Uncle Noah and Aunt Ashton were visiting, I took LOTS of videos on the phone. Because, well, Olivia needs LOTS of help with admitting she loves Uncle Noah.

She’ll say she loves Mommy, Daddy, Mr. B (Benjamin), Gammy, Pop-Pop, Annabelle (Noah’s dog), but she grins from ear to ear and shakes her head “no” every single time we ask if she loves Uncle Noah. She enjoys the torture.

Uncle Noah was getting desperate and quite plainly resorting to subliminal messages with a particular video he left on the phone for Olivia. He also left very strict instructions that it should be played every night for her. It goes a little something like this:

(And in the background, you can plainly see Olivia shaking her head “No.”)

But she loves the movie. Every night she asks for it: “Pway Noah movie!”

So, Noah, she knows your name now. But still refuses to admit she loves you.