Charlize Theron: My Dogs Help with My Baby

Charlize Theron and baby Jackson

INF

It was love at first sight, says Charlize Theron, for her four-legged best friends and her infant son Jackson, whom she adopted in March.

"It was the most beautiful thing I've ever witnessed," the Oscar winner, 36, tells Ellen DeGeneres on Thursday's The Ellen DeGeneres Show. "From the moment this baby came into our home, those two dogs have never been more in love."

Theron happily considers her brood to be her family no matter what others may think. She calls her dogs "her boys." They are, she says, "Berkley, a terrier mutt, and he's actually the pacifier thief ... He'll just lay there with the [baby's] pacifier in his mouth," and a pit bull named Blue, who help keeps the actress running on schedule.

"People keep saying, 'Oh you're a single mom,' and I'm like, 'Actually, I'm not. I got two boys helping me out.' It's incredible."

Blue serves as her alarm clock. He "woke up with me for every feed, for every change, and whenever the baby would cry the pit would start crying," says Theron. "He'll do anything for that baby." It's no wonder Theron calls Blue her Prince Charming.

As for Theron's adopting Jackson, DeGeneres says to the actress, "Everyone thinks since you're from South Africa, that he's from South Africa, but he's not."

"He's American," says his mom, who also says she brought him home ! when he was nine days old.

"What's that like to, all the sudden, have a nine-day-old baby in your life?" asks the TV host.

"You know, it took me a while [to finalize the adoption]," says Theron. "The process ... took around two years. My mom said the most beautiful thing." Recalling the sentiment, Theron said, "I'm going to cry."

Quoting her mother, Theron said, "It took me nine months to fall in love with you [while you] were growing in my stomach," then added: "She's like, it took you two years to fall in love with this little baby. It really took two years of just waiting and then one day it's finally there. It just feels exactly how it's supposed to feel. I don't know how to describe it. It just feels right."