Does my two-year-old know what I mean when I tell him I love him?

Indeed he does. And he knows it also from your tender touch, your attentive gaze, and all the ways you mother him.

Love is just a word.

The connection and expression that comes with it is what counts.

He knows what love is by the way you treat him like @skfinkel says. He may not understand the words, but the feeling is much more important

Yes, as long as you connect the two. When you tell him, you love him, you should be showing it by a big hug, or a kiss. The old saying…“Children learn by example (physical action) than by mere words alone.”

yes, nurture and touch are love, the baby must have feelings in response to it, though they don’t know the word for it, it is the feeling they have when being nurtured..

yes I agree with @ChazMaz
they feel your emotions and are very good at understanding expressions
so you bet, they know you love them

It depends if your speech and your behavior are congruent.

GAs all around,. :)

i think he probably doesn’t have a huge understand the words yet, but like with any abstract he will come to an understanding through you telling and showing him. I’m sure you’re a good parent and he knows he’s loved, and when you give him a bnig cuddle and say it, it helps the feeling and the words connect.

I’m not sure I know what the words mean! :) But when the baby and I are both smiling, enveloped in a sea of mutual fascination and joy, it’s clear he senses it too.

I’d say he gets the jist of it by the way you say the words and the tone you say it in. You most likely will speak in a very…well loving and comforting tone when you say it so I’d say he very much understands.

Probably not in the same way you do, but the feelings you display when you say “I love you” he can read very well. Trust me on this. : ))

Of course he knows. How could he not (especially if accompanied with matching action)?

He understands.

We teach them the meaning of “I love you” just like we teach them the meaning of “juice”.

That’s why it’s so important that when we are saying the words that we are showing them the best example of love. It is this example that they will be looking for from others in their lives. For the rest of their lives.

I often wonder this too. Sometimes my son (who you know is the same age) is in a foul mood and every single thing I say he comes back “No don’t want to fill in the blank of whatever I just said” and sometimes that happens to be me saying I love you.

He says I love you to me, and also says “Oh Deedee, I’m so happy” or “I’m so glad, Deedee” while hugging and kissing me. He is super expressive of his feelings, and still trying to figure out what all the words means.
But, I think they have a little grasp on it by this age. They know when they are being loved on at least.

@casheroo I guess at their age, all the affection is a replacement for the words. I love when he climbs on my lap and gives me a kiss or gets in bed with me in the morning!

The actual meaning of the words is a process, which is barely beginning at that age. If you repeated wubbly to him every time, he would associate it with the actions and feelings just the same as saying I love you. It’s not really what you say, so much as how you say it that impresses the meaning in their mind.

he feels your love by how you care for him

No. He has no concept of the word, and as he gets older, if you overuse the word, he never will.