We have a mutual crush!

Our eyes meet, his entire face lights up with glee, his smile is electric as he runs across the room with his arms extended ready for us to embrace. I am no longer the only one involved in this crush; my little boy loves me too! Over the past nineteen months he has definitely exhibited signs of love and excitement when I’m around but recently it has gotten to the point where he is almost as excited to see me as I am him. As I pick him up and devour him with kisses, I realized that I want to bottle this feeling, this infatuation, up and save it for a later date. I want to refer back to it when he is a teenager who misbehaves, is annoyed with everything his mother does or doesn’t want to talk to me. I want to remember that feeling where he wants to hug and kiss me without me petitioning for the affection. As every parent, I want him to grow, mature, progress into an independent adult who does not need his parents. If I don’t accomplish this task, than I am not doing my job. However, the delight he is currently getting from me is just a fraction of what he has given me and I want to keep that feeling forever. Into the snottiness of his teenage years, or rebellion of his adolescence, I want to be able to open the bottle I have saved that brings me back to today. I know that he is growing and changing so quickly and before I know it he won’t want hugs and kisses but now he not only wants them, he’s demanding them. We work so hard to capture all the wonderful memories; taking pictures, videoing special moments, and journaling in his baby book, but the most special memories and feelings are going to stay in my head which gets fuzzy with time. I don’t want to ever forget how this feels, so how can I document that? How can I save it for always? Because before I know it, it will just be a memory.