Slowly,

At the risk of being obtuse, why couldn't you just employ Step 5 and ask for what you want?

"Sugar plum, I realized that we don't use terms of endearment nearly as often as we used to. I really miss them!"

And then see what he says? My guess is that he doesn't realize that 1) they are not being used often; and 2) how much you enjoy hearing them.

Betsey

"There are only 2 ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

Albert Einstein