I can't call my boyfriend babe

I don't know why but I have such a hard time verbally showing my boyfriend affection, I have no problem showing him physically, I'm just bad at saying sweet things to him. And I want to be able to do that, but I can't even call him babe, the word makes me cringe when I'm about to say it! Does anyone else have this problem? Or have any tips on how to get over this. Because I really want him to be able to hear these types of things because I know it feels good when he says those things to me,