Kaley Cuoco insists she hasn’t always been one to cry easily.

But becoming a mom to her 8-month-old daughter Matilda with partner Tom Pelphrey changed that tune entirely.

“Tom and I were sitting with Matilda the other day, and she was literally staring at us, and she touched both of our faces, and just gave us this innocent, just really joyful, ‘Hi’ smile,” Cuoco, 38, tells PEOPLE for this week’s issue.

“I mean, I could cry right now,” she continues. “We both looked at each other and we started tearing up. He goes, ‘Is this our life now, where we just cry at everything she does?’ ”

The former Big Bang Theory star recently shared a sweet video on her Instagram Story to kick off the holidays — her daughter’s first Thanksgiving. Cuoco, who next stars in the Prime Video film Role Play, sat with Matilda on her lap, repeating the word “mama” as the infant giggled and squirmed. The actress then turned to look at something else for a second, and Matilda said, “Mmmm … mama mama mama.” In response, the proud mom was completely shocked: “Mama?! What?! You just said Mama! What was that?” and planted kisses all over her baby girl.

Cuoco, who just launched her line of eco-friendly dog products, Oh Norman!, spoke to PEOPLE in October about her daughter also bonding with their four dogs rescue dogs, Ruby, Opal, King and Blue.

“Oh my God, she got thrown to the wolves literally,” Cuoco said. “After she was born, I’m like, ‘If this child doesn’t like dogs, I might have to send her back. There’s no choice. This is your life. This is it.’ ”

She added, “They have jumped on her. They have crawled across her. We have let them lick her, kiss her. Our pediatrician was like, ‘It’s okay.’ So they love her so much.”

Source: People