the flower (or, a magical moment memory)

Magical moment memories. Everyone has these. The funny thing about them is that there is often nothing particularly spectacular about the moment. Just a random snippet of a random day. An image perhaps. Or a scene.   

For some reason, this memory is so vivid that is stands out from all the other memories. And that is what makes it magical. 

I have these from my childhood. One is about sitting on the grass eating strawberry ice cream. Ordinary. Yet, magical. 

I occasionally wonder what magical moment memories my own children will have. But there is no way to predict this. 

I also have a few memories that glimmer and shimmer from early parenting.

This is one of them.  No words, just images…

 

Pickflowers1

Pickflowers2

Pickflowers3

Pickflowers4

Pickflowers5

Pickflowers6

Pickflowers7

Pickflowers8

Pickflowers9

(This was from Crappy Boy's babyhood, thus, no curl on his head.)

What is the first "magical moment memory" that comes to mind when you think of being a parent? 

 

This entry was posted in crappy pictures, good stuff, magical moment memories, parenting, toddlers. Bookmark the permalink.

208 Responses to the flower (or, a magical moment memory)

  1. helen wright says:

    When my lad was about 4 months old he was rolling on his tummy and looked at me and smiled. The most fantastic smile ever.

  2. ayuni says:

    awwwww!!! i said exactly that! <3

  3. Becca says:

    my sweet little 8 month old started returning my eskimo kisses last month after 7 months of me giving them to her every day. She pushes her nose up against mine and shakes her little head back and forth — nothing could be sweeter. ๐Ÿ™‚

  4. Sacha Hammerer says:

    LOVE! <3

  5. jd says:

    playground w/ my just-over-2-yr-old, spinning her around and she had a look of pure ecstasy, looking up at me, sun shining in her face…now she’s 12 but i can remember this like it was yesterday ๐Ÿ™‚

  6. Kim D. says:

    We took my oldest to our favorite Indian place when she was about one. Curry all. over. her face. Then the nice Indian wait staff (all men, all over forty)oohing and aahing over the darling little baby who loves her curry!

    • Jennifer H says:

      Kim, we had a very similar experience with my oldest around age 2! This was a Korean restaurant, and it was our second time – we barely knew what to order. Before I knew what was happening, the sweet older waitress that spoke no English had brought my son an ENTIRE FISH (about 6 inches, head and tail on) cooked in some super-salty, very light breading. He tore it apart with his hands and devoured it – we had to take the head away in a hurry! And apparently this is something they often feed babies because the bones are so tiny and cook down so soft that there is no danger. We were blown away, and laughed til our sides hurt!

  7. Katie says:

    Packing away the tiny little preemie clothes and remembering them being too big for my newborn…and being sad thinking how much she’s grown in the last 8 months…and I told her to promise momma she would never never grow up and she gave me a huge smile.

  8. Katie says:

    Well I don’t blame her, curry is awesome

  9. Jana says:

    At my daughter’s naming ceremony the cantor asked for people to make wishes. My son (4 yrs old) stepped up and said “I have a wish.” and the room hushed. “What’s your wish for your new sister?” asked the Cantor. “Love.” replied my son.

    “You’re my new favorite human being.” the Cantor replied.

    It may not be something he’ll remember, but I will treasure that moment forever.

  10. Alexis says:

    Around one year of age my daughter gave our cats and her favorite stuffed animals a hug. So precious!

  11. jamie says:

    After a full day of my 12 month old doing every “no-no” thing possible, she proceeds to pull a barstool over on herself. In exasperation, I shout at her, and then as if she can understand me, I go on a whole verbal tirade of how she has frustrated me all day, she is going to really hurt herself, blah blah. And she looks at me, then looks down slowly with a pout for a few seconds, then looks back up at me, walks across the room saying “mama” and she throws her arms around my neck and lays her head on my should while patting my back. I guess she thought I needed comforting! I couldn’t be mad after that ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Wendy says:

      Real proof that you are an awesome Mom!! She knows how to show empathy, compassion, affection…all beautiful things that her Mama taught her.

  12. Becca says:

    this made me cry ๐Ÿ™‚ I tell my 8 month old this same thing all the time!

  13. Amy from Detroit says:

    When my daughter entered Kindergarten and drew a picture of me and her, and wrote (with obvious help from the teacher). “I love my mom”. It was the first time I ever saw her draw ME (alas, I was a stick figure) and the first time she wrote the I Love You words. Needless to say, I’ve kept that picture!

  14. Jamethiel says:

    When our son was about 6 weeks old, he was lying on our bed on his belly, just hanging out watching the world. He looked up at us & said, and I quote “Booya!” & rolled over for the first time. It might have something to do with the gazillion times I watched GI Jane while I was pregnant….

  15. Amber Dusick says:

    Awww, this one makes me teary.

  16. Rachelle says:

    Probably not the first, but one of the most recent: Pulling up to the post office in my van just to drop a letter in the outside blue box, something I would normally just hop out and do myself…instead I unbuckled my four year old and let him get out to do it. The look of surprise on his face was priceless. Even better – as he climbed back into his seat, he said, “This is the best day ever!” It is the little things!

  17. queencutie35@hotmail.com says:

    a week ago my 10 yr old asked if it was ok to take her savings of $25.00 and instead of buying for her brothers and sisters for Christmas she wanted to buy for orphans this Christmas anonymously that was my biggest Awww moment but there are plenty lol.

  18. Betsi says:

    My most recent was my three older boys, running in from school and immediately surrounding their new baby brother for cuddles and kisses.

    One of my first magic moments was when my oldest was four months. I was sitting with him under a tree and he was watching the breeze ruffle the branches and cooing “oh, oh” with such pleasure and wonder.

  19. bubble says:

    Ours has to do with flowers, too. Making daisy chains while on a picnic rug on the most beautiful day in the world, at possibly one of the most beautiful parks I’ve ever had the pleasure of living near. And sharing them with our friends.

    Never mind that it took the babies only a matter of seconds to have the chains torn apart. A great memory, all the same.

  20. hofmama says:

    My elder son is autistic, so the prospect of his talking has always been dicey. But one day when he was about 3 and a half, and saying a few words (juice, cookie, kitty) he walked up, took my face in his hands, smiled, and said “I love oo, Mama.” Best moment ever.

  21. Deirdre says:

    I found your site from Huffington Post and immediately had to go back and read them all. Love it!

    One magical memory for each kid: when my daughter was three, at preschool she made a Valentine’s picture with a heart for each person she loved. Mama, Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, Michael (a friend) and My Baby. I was four months pregnant and cried for the rest of the day.

    My son was a late talker so we taught him some signs so he could communicate without as much frustration. Once he did talk, there was a two-month window when he would speak and sign at the same time. Heart-breakingly adorable to see him signing “sorry” while hearing him say, “Sowwy.”

  22. Me says:

    When my girl was 5 she begged and begged to go by herself to buy tickets at a street fair. (About 50 yards away from us.) I remember seeing her come through the crowd, skipping back, two streams of tickets in her hands, her hair glowing in the sunlight, a look of pure unadulterated joy on her face, drunk with power and independence.

    One of the most magical moments!

  23. My youngest did this same thing with a daisy on the grass.

    I think her most absolutely cutest thing ever though was at my parents’ house. Their dog had a ball that had white fluffy stuffing, which he had pulled out and left lying all over their garden. She had been outside playing and found one of the bits of stuffing and started throwing it up into the air, over and over getting more and more upset the more she did it.

    She then came running inside crying, telling us that she had found a cloud that wouldn’t go back into the sky.

    (I still “Awwwww” thinking of this!)

  24. Nell says:

    So sweet! And the funny thing is that I recognized it was crappy boy and not crappy baby because he was missing his curl before I read that part!

  25. Liz F says:

    When DS rolled over for the first time (back to belly) and then looked up at me and gave me the BIGGEST smile, as if to say, “Look what I did, Mama!” Best part? I caught it on video ๐Ÿ™‚

  26. Lizz says:

    I just LOVE this! Really, I just love your blog!

  27. Rebekah says:

    The other morning my I went to wake my 6 month old. I gently started rubbing his head and said “Time to wake up baby Rowan” He opened his eyes for a minute then turned to me and gave me the biggest, you’re my favorite person in the whole wide world and I love you so much smile. I dropped all plans that day just to have some cuddly baby/mommy time. <3

  28. Claudia Beck says:

    Our nightly routine is to wait for Daddy to come home at the front window and watch him walk up the front steps. Then my son (8 months) is sad for a short while because he can’t see him. We go over to the door and open it to find Daddy on the other side and he grins, makes his wheezy-happy noise (no idea where it came from but it’s adorable!) and flaps his arms. After that, we have to follow Daddy to the bathroom and watch him in the mirror until, Joy, oh JOY! Daddy comes out and takes Arthur into his arms! Arthur makes his wheezy-happy noise again and looks at me SO proudly, as if to say, “Do you see?! Do you see who’s got me, Mama?! It’s my Daddy!! My DADDY’s holding me!”

  29. Felicia says:

    My little boy was about 2 when he had a very magical interlude with a big orange butterfly. He kept telling me; “You want the butterfly to hold you?”

  30. Ellie says:

    Me too! ๐Ÿ™‚

  31. Mel says:

    After a long labor and recovery and still feeling like it was unreal, I picked up my new baby from the hospital bed, he opened his eyes and I finally felt like.. Oh! You are mine! sweet sweet baby.

  32. Jess says:

    When my around 9 month old or so DD2 stopped nursing and bent down and gave me a raspberry on my tummy! Ha…so unexpected and cute.

  33. Ellie says:

    When my first son started hugging back when he was cuddled, at about 14 months. Best feeling ever! And my second son – we’re still forming those early memories, but he’s just started ‘winking’ back at us (with both eyes…) and did it spontaneously just after stealing his brother’s biscuit and chomping it. I hope I’ll remember that forever.

  34. Maggie says:

    Since my child is my great niece, who I didn’t meet face to face until she was 7 months old, I would have to say that the most magical moment for me was when she had learned to like/love me enough to cry when I left the room. I know that sounds weird, but when a baby is too little to talk, you know they care if they cry when you leave the room. I will never forget what she was wearing and bursting into happy tears because she was learning to love me.

  35. Stephanie K. says:

    I know there are earlier ones, but the first one that popped into my head was when my son was about a year, and starting to walk by pushing this toy on wheels; early in the morning, before anyone in our neighbourhood was up, we’d walk around the block, me in my pjs with a mug of tea, the rising sun shining on his bright little face, as he plodded that LONG distance (for his little strides) beside me. Thanks for making me think of it.

  36. kate says:

    Jana you (or your son, really) just made me all teary at my desk. that is BEAUTIFUL! And your daughter has one special big brother ๐Ÿ™‚

  37. rachel says:

    More “LOL” than magical, but when my son was only a few weeks old I had him in just a diaper laying on the bed beside me while I pumped. All of a sudden he starts SCREAMING a blood curdling scream. I look over and he has a very strong grip on his own nipple and the more it scares him, the harder he holds on to it. Trying to pry his tiny little fingers off his nipple while laughing and crying and pumping both boobs all at the same time was an interesting process.

  38. Stephanie says:

    We’ve been doing those with my older son for a long time, and call them “nose-tickles.” He now asks for a “nicky-toes” every night before bed. Love it!!

  39. Kate says:

    All of these are so special but yours made me insta-bawl!

  40. One of the first times we didn’t ask a restaurant to specifically prepare something just for our son was at a Thai place. He was eyeing his daddy’s green curry and smacking his lips. Not even a year old. And he gobbled up that curry like it was the best thing on earth!

  41. Kate says:

    My nearly three year old daughter is a real nurturer towards all life but especially her 1 year old brother that’s bigger than her. One of my most recent magical memory is going in their room after nap time and getting my son out of the crib with my daughter standing right by me doing the “gimme gimme gimme” hand gesture and said, ” aww come here sleephead Bubba. Let’s go snuggle snuggle and hold hands.”

  42. Traci says:

    My oldest DD, who is 2 1/2, as I got her out of the car, looked up at the night sky and was so thrilled to see so many twinkling stars. She then blew the moon a kiss and sang “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” to the night sky. Made me smile and cry all at once.

  43. Tami says:

    My most recent was yesterday when I was trying to explain to my 7 year old what an “8th grade dance” was. It was a bit tricky. No, it’s not a square dance, no it’s not ballet… You dance to music that they play on the radio. “OH! You mean FREEDANCE? I LOVE FREEDANCING!” Um, yeah… I guess freedance would be the correct word. For a split second, I saw her entire teenagerhood flash before my eyes. I have a feeling it will involve a lot of freedancing.

  44. Angela Garrison says:

    You’re right. It’s the little things. You would think with 5 kids I would have a binder full of this stuff but alas, no! So these are what just pops to my mind.
    It’s the picture my eldest, a girl (14) drew at about 3 years of age of “Mommy and Me”. Horribly disfigured stick people holding hands that has a place of honor framed on my dresser. We are at the stage now where she doesn’t feel like this most of the time so I treasure this and know that it will return.
    It’s my eldest son (12) getting into the car the other night and talking non stop about how great his night went at gymnastics and how excited and passionate his voice was. He’s going to the Olympics, ya know. I don’t doubt it for one minute.
    It’s my middle child (6), a boy and the way I can make him laugh. There is something about moms and their sons that is so different from moms and their daughters. I have called him all sorts of silly names since he was born Stink Man and Doodie Man are the favorites and to this day, if I call him either of these, he just cracks up. It probably also has something to do with the fact that any bodily function humor is fabulous with little boys!
    It’s my serious twin (5), a girl who looks at me like I am nuts sometimes and then breaks out in a smile so big it seems as if her whole face is going to crack.
    And it’s my other, not so serious twin (5) a girl who has a giggle that is unmistakably hers and there is no way anyone has yet been able to mimic it!
    Doesn’t matter if they are magical or not, they’re all mine and I love it!

  45. Last summer my husband deployed for a year, due to time-zones and his schedules he was almost never available before our girls went to sleep. So every night when I tucked my now 4 year old in I would give her an extra hug and tell her it was from Daddy.

    Now he’s been home since July and every night after hugging everyone when I tuck her into bed she whispers “I have something to tell you; Give Daddy a big hug, and a big kiss, and tell him ‘I love you, love Aislyn.’ Oh and get him a drink.” When I asked her about it she told me that she just wants to make sure Daddy has enough love if he has to go away before she wakes up.

  46. Definitely teary, too. What a sweet, sweet moment.

  47. Chantelle says:

    I’m teary too! What a sweet boy.

  48. warmfuzzyfeeling says:

    My little baby son Finn has given me plenty of awwww moments, but the first one which comes to mind is… his funny little noise. He purrs in the back of his throat and he only does it when he’s happy. I’ve never heard another baby make this noise and everyone who hears him do it is amazed and enchanted by it.

    He’s not a cuddly baby, if I try to cuddle him he wrestles himself free. But occasionally if I catch him when he’s just woken up and still too sleepy to realise what’s happening I’ll get a cuddle out of him.

    A couple of months ago when he was about 8 months old I had cause to get him out of his cot while he was still asleep. Instead of waking up and fighting me, he nestled into my shoulder with his face against me and did a tiny little “prrrr” in the back of his throat. That was the best cuddle I’ve ever had ๐Ÿ™‚

  49. warmfuzzyfeeling says:

    That made me do an out-loud awww!

  50. Erica says:

    That is so unbelievably sweet, and pure, and innocent. It is so interesting the way children feel about their siblings, from the second they’re here. I love how much my kids love each other and I love how much they love other babies too. It says something about humans and the way our brains work.

  51. Dawn says:

    snuggling up on the bed for an afternoon nap, me, my partner and our 2 week old son. my partner was curled around me, holding myself and baby in his arms. I’ll never forget how perfect that felt.

  52. Meg says:

    My son was born with an upper limb difference, which is a long story, but basically, at birth, all of the fingers, including his thumb, on his left hand were fused together, with missing bones. There have been so many of these magical moments with him, but one of the biggest was when he was a few months old, and I watched him very carefully use his “little hand” for the first time to hook a toy and pick it up. I cried happy tears, then took video of it!

  53. Eva F/ says:

    nice now I am all teared up at work ๐Ÿ˜‰

  54. Beautiful! Between yours and the 4YO wishing for Love for his baby sister, I’m totally in tears now!

  55. Eva F/ says:

    Amber, I am usually all teary eyed from laughing, when reading your blog. This one made me all emotional, they grow up so fast, my daughter is 20 months and I just hope that she will remember her childhood as a happy one.

  56. Annie says:

    Haha, everyone has these “aww” moments. I guess my “aww” moment was when my son was playing with a stick. He broke it in half, then concernedly handed it to me and commanded me, “Mommy, fix it”. I explained that some things couldn’t be fixed. He was a little confused by that, but it made me realize the power he thought Mommy had.

    My favorite moment, though, was when he was just a few days old, and we, reeling with sleep loss, were attempting a late night diaper change. We took just a little too long to get the fresh diaper on, and POW, suddenly there was poop all over the room. LIterally, it looked and sounded like someone shot it out of a shotgun. We suddenly started laughing so hard that we both fell onto the bed, crying. It was then we realized we were all three probably going to be ok, if we could laugh at a thing like that.

  57. maggie K says:

    Sean my 7 year old, when he was 3, renamed my bras Booby Covers…. I thought this was funny ๐Ÿ™‚ Nicholas my 12 month old, when he was 14 months old, I was trying to change his diaper (he had peed) but he wouldn’t stay still he ran around the living room pooping as he ran, he slipped in his poop. It was incredibly messy but funny, and I will tell his girlfriends this story, so fun.
    Gracie my 3 year old, keeps pointing to my boobs, with those are Harlow’s (Harlow is my 10 month old nursing little girl)

  58. “Princess Bunny” is the name my 3-yr-old daughter gave to a manly-looking stuffed elephant that she insisted on dressing in a bridal gown and a tiara. The image forever burned on my brain is Abby, at her summer birthday, twirling Princess Bunny under a cherry tree, round and round and round, ’til they both (I swear, Princess Bunny, too) fell down laughing.

    It’s 10 years later, and I still make Abby bring Princess Bunny so they can both sit on my lap.

  59. Eva F/ says:

    just yesterday, we were coming back home and my 20 month old daughter was overtired and crying in her car seat. Nothing helped, I sang, talked to her, her CD played, but she kept screaming, so finally I reached over from the driver’s seat and held her tiny hand. She pulled my hand closer to her and fell asleep. I drove for 20 minutes with my arm in a very uncomfortable and unnatural position, but I loved every second of it.

  60. Angela says:

    My daughter laughing for the first time at my chocolate easter bunny (melt). It was so precious and sweet! (I think she knew even then how awesome chocoate is)

  61. Lida says:

    ohh. My two-year old daughter saying about her hysterically screaming twin sister: “Sissy is mean and sad,but we love her that way” ๐Ÿ™‚ This is the meaning of true sister love – to have someone love you even when you are grumpy, and it made me so happy that they have each other.

  62. Caren says:

    I’ve found with my little two year old guy that there’s moments where I want to get in the car and drive away while whimpering quietly to myself, but there’s other times (and luckily more of them…) that I just want to die of a cute attack.

  63. Audrey says:

    One particularly challenging day as I was burping my baby after an evening feeding she let out the loudest burp I have ever heard from a child. It made me laugh in true shock, and as I laughed she looked at me and gave me her first smile. I will never forget that moment ๐Ÿ™‚ It made me cry.

  64. Leia says:

    such beautiful stories. Thank you for the blog and for all of you posting such treasured times. My family has a cold right now. Yesterday in exhaustion I laid down on the couch and put on Cars, my 18 mo.’s favorite movie. I told him I didn’t feel well and needed to lay down. He bought me every pillow in the house and then crawled onto the couch and snuggled up. My caretaker. You would have never guessed that he is just as sick.

  65. Sonja says:

    I literally lol’d! My 4 week old daughter does this but with her hair… I feel horrible laughing as I’m trying to make her let go but it’s so silly…

  66. Sonja says:

    We have a 3.5 year old son, and now a 4 week old baby girl, and we have had quite a few heartbreaking jealousy issues… Well yesterday on the way home from the store, baby was crying and I glanced back to check on her and my son was rubbing her cheek trying to sooth her…

  67. Rachel says:

    I was pregnant with our second, and my husband rang to say he’d be even later home because he’d had a car accident. I just sat on the floor crying with hormones and fright, and our 18-month-old daughter brought me a box of tissues and gave me a cuddle, saying ‘love oo mummy’. She’s 7 now, and still has a heart for those who are hurting, but that was the first time I saw it.

  68. Rhonda E says:

    What sticks out in my mind was both a good day and a very hard day. The first time my 3 year old had a stomach flu. He just wanted me to hold him all day, and he was so scared and puking everywhere. That afternoon I had a short appointment I had to go to, so his grandparents came over to watch him. He usually forgets I even exist when they come over, but this time he still wanted me over them. He asked me to stay with him, and it broke my heart. I was only gone 20 minutes, but I cried almost the whole time!

  69. ha! my son did the exact same thing with flowers when he was little.

    so cute.

  70. alex says:

    My younger son was probably six months old, and my older son was just to turn four. one day, during pick up for my older son at preschool, I had sat my younger son down while I was getting all the preschool stuff. A (rather tall) dad went “Hi there!” to him, and he looked up and up and fell over backwards because the dad was so tall. As he was starting to cry, my four year old went to him, picked him up and said “it’s ok, sometimes we all need help sitting up”. I think I had a bursty mommy heart moment right then and there.

  71. kella says:

    We had a moment like that with both our girls too ๐Ÿ™‚

  72. Melanie says:

    I recently took my 2 year old daughter to her first hockey game. She was just amazed and loved every moment. The cutest thing ever was that when a player got checked and fell down she would scream “you okay boy, you okay boy”.. made the whole crowd around her smile.
    Too precious!

  73. sarah says:

    ๐Ÿ™‚

  74. Heidi S. says:

    This isn’t completely the same idea but it is a random memory that is so clear in my mind. As a little girl I grew up right outside of Philadelphia and there are radio towers in a western part of the city that are visible from the highway. I can rember seeing the floating bright red lights that littered the sky in that area and thinking to myself “wow! Those are ALOT of alien spaceships”. I have no idea where this thought came. I just knew it was true in my child mind. So one day while driving on that highway I turned to my Dad and asked “why do all the spaceships hang out there?”. Having never shared my assumption of the spaceships with anyone, my Dad’s bewildered look now makes sense. But he looked at me and replied “I’m not sure. Maybe they are refueling.”. Of course they were!

  75. Rebecca Emin says:

    My first magical moment was when my eldest was born. I was given her to hold and when I looked down she had her tiny hands folded, like she was praying. It was the most precious thing I had ever seen.

  76. Elcoeda says:

    My last awww moment was a couple a weeks ago, my 14 month old was sick, and had just vomited on me… at 3 A.M. So I brought him to the bathroom, and after taking off my top, started to undress him too. As soon as he was naked he grabbed me by the neck and just snuggled, and wouldn’t let go, his eyes closed and his head nice and tucked on my breast. I think he needed the comfort of early memories… and I just was so happy. We stayed like that for probably ten minutes before he would let me dress him again…

  77. lezlie81@hotmail.com says:

    We had moved into a rough neighborhood on purpose before having children. I worried for a bit about the choice once I had my first baby. I remember circling a strip joint in our neighborhood where all kinds of prostitution, drug and violent activity had been going on. I was kind of fearfully praying as I walked next to my husband with our months-old son strapped to me. It was a dark, cold winter afternoon and that place felt extra dark and cold. I wondered what kind of world we had brought our son into. We rounded the corner of the building and he did something he rarely did in those days (colickly boy). He laughed the most spectacular baby laugh to himself! I will never forget how amazing and beautiful and warm that sound was in such an ugly dark, cold place.

    Babies bring hope into the world.

  78. Becky F says:

    Last year I was 7 months pregnant at Christmas. We went to go see Santa with our daughter who was 22 months. On the way we asked her what she was going to ask for. She replied “Baby Ryan, butterflies, and cheeseburgers.” I will never forget that!

  79. rbarnwe@gmail.com says:

    My son, who will be three at the end of March, shared something very important to him today. We have an Advent House, and in the German tradition each day in the month preceding Christmas we open a compartment of the advent calendar revealing a small gift. Usually it is a single piece of chocolate, a sticker or something else small and inexpensive. Today it held a small package of M&M’s. My son, who only had 10 to begin with asked me to have some. With tears in my eyes I dropped everything I was doing, sat down at the table and ate M& M’s with my son. What a moment!

  80. nelsen.sandra@gmail.com says:

    I have nine children and seven grandchildren. I was ‘Nanny’ to a little boy for the first 3 years of his life. I hugged him, loved him, gave him part ownership of our dog (He got to feed and water and love on her when he was here, as he didn’t have a dog and wasn’t going to get one anytime soon.) His mom finally was able to be a stay and home mom with him. I came home from shopping, and my husband came outside to meet me, and said you have to call Beth. It is an emergency about Marcus. The emergency was, they had taken him out to eat at a fancy restaurant, and he’d bent down and hit his head on the edge of the table. He was crying and sobbing. They tried everthing, and finally he said, “I just need to talk to my Nanny.” I called them, he talked to me and told me what happened, and a ‘kissed’ his little head through the phone and he was fine. I sent him a little card and a boo boo bunny from Nanny so whenever he got hurt, he would be better.

  81. Andrea says:

    First airplane ride with our son Hayden (now 6, then 2ish?). Sitting on the tarmac, engines revving, and he starts counting down (loudly) FIVE-FOUR-THREE-TWO-ONE-BLAST OFF!!! And his timing was dead-on. As soon as he hit “blast off”, the plane lurched forward for takeoff. Almost as if the pilots had waited for his cue! Everyone around was amused.

  82. Tara says:

    My son, 5 yrs, found a penny and handed it to me. I said to him, “Pennies are good luck, you should keep it!” He told me, “No mommy, I have all the luck I need. You can have it.”

  83. Silverdragon says:

    Okay, that one made me cry. ๐Ÿ™ So beautiful and so sad that daddies (and sometimes mummies) have to go away to fight. My greatest wish is for all the world to be at peace, so no more little ones have to miss their parent – sometimes for a while and sometimes forever.

  84. sarah says:

    I’ve really enjoyed reading these. Like everyone we have lots, and I now have a 2 y.o. who provides many,and she is my last child, so I think I appreciate them more, mostly tho its just enjoying how much I love her,
    Anyway, my story is from a time of grief…we had lost a child just after birth, and a few years later were pregnant again and had a miscarriage, and we were tired, anxious etc and concerned how the kids would take the news. So we were all in the bed (me, hubbie, three kids) and gently told them. And my youngest, a boy of 6 then, looked quite shocked and devastated for about a second, and then he suddenly sat up and said “Does this mean we aren’t getting the new car?”. And then (it continues to get better) he said to my 8yo daughter “You could have a baby!”. And she smiled and said “Don’t be silly, you need a man”. And he jumped up, hands on his hips, in a very masculine pose and a smile on his face “I’ll be your man!”. And my daughter smiled again and said “You need to get married”. And my son said again, “And you need to get your licence….to drive to the church”.
    We loved it, esp at such a moment, and it made us realise the kids are actually very grounded and OK.

  85. KiwiBunnz says:

    Ohhh… have faith, my wee man wasn’t cuddly when he was little, but now (that he is a big 2 year old tomorrow!)he gives me lots of cuddles and kisses ๐Ÿ™‚

  86. WordyDoodles says:

    *love* this. They can drive us nuts and then make us melt. Beautiful!

  87. Grace says:

    My 12 mo. old daughter and I on a blanket in the grass. The sun shining through her hair, lighting it up like a halo. Then she turned and smiled at me. It’s like the whole world stopped for a moment. I’m so blessed!

  88. KiwiBunnz says:

    Wow…just bawled my way through this (and my wee man looked at me with a very concerned expression and said “no cry mummy”… which is another awww moment!)

    My wee man, who is 2 tomorrow :-), gives cuddles but only when asked – but there is one exception. After we let the water out of the bath and he waves bye bye to it down the plug hole, I lift him out and wrap him in his “snuggly buggly” and dry his head off a little before he says “Cuddle Mummy” and lunges at me soaking wet. Then he says “downstairs” and lets me carry him down (usually we have to spend hours for him to walk down and be distracted by all the screws in the banisters on the way.) As soon as I put him down in the lounge he is off and running again and not wanting to get in his pjs. But those few moments every night are lovely.

  89. jes says:

    The first time my daughter and I shared a belly laugh together. We were just playing a silly little game with a toy mouse and it just kept getting more ridiculous. DD wanted me to make the mouse say “YUCK!” over and over and soon I was laughing my butt off and so was she. She was about 15 months at the time (she’s 16 months now) and it was one of those “Man, I love being a mom” moments. That, and whenever she gives me a spontaneous kiss. I always wish I knew what I did to make her love me so much at that moment. ๐Ÿ™‚

  90. Elisabeth says:

    They never do that when I smash my plate in my face … go figure … kinda like pulling your pants down on the way to the potty … adorable when you’re 2, not so cute when you’re 30. Eh.

  91. Lynn says:

    I’ve always joked with my youngest since she was 3 that she needs to stay leetle (little) and not grow up. One day when she was almost 5, I said my saying and she quickly turned to me, touched my cheek so softly, looked into my eyes and with her adorable lisp said, “Momma, I have to grow up. I can’t stop it. I must grow up, but I will always be your baby”. That was my magical moment. I think when she saw the ‘cute tears’ well in my eyes, she knew it was the perfect answer for my saying from that day forward ๐Ÿ˜‰

  92. Elisabeth says:

    My son had a period of being “scared” of water. He wasn’t really scared, but he didn’t love being told to go into the water at the beach, pool, etc. (despite the many photos I have of him splashing merrily on several Caribbean beaches with me only months before)and would throw a fit over it. He NEVER would lay tummy down in the tub … then one bathtime when he was nearly four he was playing with cars in the tub and just flipped over … he looked completely amazed and said “Mommy, this is nice!” … It was just so ridiculous is was hilarious … this is going to be one of those stories that his girlfriends will hear … and now whenever he is tired at bathtime he leans back in the tub and says “ahhhhh that feels nice” … and looks at me for the obligatory laugh … little goofball.

  93. Carita says:

    ๐Ÿ™‚ ๐Ÿ™‚ ๐Ÿ™‚

  94. Melissa says:

    These are fantastic! I’ll have to read these again when I’m having a bad day! My little guy is only 2 but there have been so many magical moments. Not long ago when it started being dark in the mornings, we went out to the car and he was so excited that the moon was out! He said in his toddler-voice “Mommy! The moon in the sky! the moon in the sky!” He was so excited. Now the moon is old news, but he will still say ‘hi moon’ then tell me ‘moon say hi’.

  95. Gingerert says:

    Oh, these are all so lovely!

    My two and a half year old son was born a preemie and with a rare chromosome disorder, so he develops at about half the pace of other children. It makes those “firsts” incredibly special to me, because I have to wait twice as long for them.

    The first time he tracked something with his eyes was when he was about four or five weeks old. We were sitting in the garden, on a lovely calm summer day, and a beautiful white butterfly flew past our very green trees. Owen followed its journey with his eyes, and then looked straight into my own. It was the most magical moment of my life.

    Owen also has no verbal communication, but he is learning signs and has some tonal variation that may develop into language someday. But about a year ago I was dressing him for bed after a bath, and he suddenly said “Mama”, clear as a bell. It remains his one and only word, but it’s the most amazing feeling when he says it. I cry nearly all the time. ๐Ÿ™‚

  96. Milly says:

    My sweet little boy had been sick, so very sick with a terrible cough when he was two – he would cough so hard he would throw up sometimes. We went to the hospital more than once; had tests, took different medications….
    One night, I was up again with him, holding him in my arms as he was sleeping and coughing at the same time. I was crying and said to my husband “I can’t take this – WHY can’t we fix him?” and my wee poppet opened his eyes and said “It’s ok mama, it’s ok”.
    Thankfully he IS ok now – the cough finally went away – but the fact my baby wanted to make ME feel better, when HE was so sick, is just the kind of boy he is. My perfect baby!

  97. Sheri says:

    What beautiful stories! I remember watching in awe this summer as my four kids played in a creek and the sun sparkled just right on the water. I knew it was magical moment.

  98. sarah says:

    ๐Ÿ™‚

  99. Stella says:

    After spending his first year of life in hospital battling cancer, son #2 finally came home. I would come home from work to shout “mummy’s home” to a big smile with arms up in the air ready to be picked. Due to his many health issues he could only roll around not crawl and he couldnt sit up from a lying down position. One day when he was rolling around on the floor and i had come home he looked at me put his arms up in the air to be picked up and i asked if he could sit up by himself, he promptly does as asked puts his arms up big smile on his face and eyes that say “ready for my huggles”. He passed away 6 mnths later. Four years down the track “huggles” are son #1 (now 11) favourite word.

  100. Janine says:

    My twins were given a 50% chance of survival so when my first came out screaming it was the most magical sound ever. I got to hold her for about 5 minutes straight after and i’ll never forget gazing at her in awe. My second also arrived ok but Daddy got to hold her for the first 5 minutes and then she was taken to the NICU. I was so lucky she was healthy enough for me to have a hold 29hours after birth – I counted down the hours! I have a beautiful photo of me holding and kissing her that first time…my precious miracle.

  101. Charity says:

    One of many moments that comes to mind is when I brought my oldest daughter outside to see an especially beautiful full moon. She was about 6 months old and looked up into the sky and kept saying something that sounded very much like “Wow, wow, wow” in her tiny little baby voice.

  102. Amber Dusick says:

    Oh Stella, there are no words. I can’t stop crying at both the beauty and sadness of what you shared. Thank you. Off to hug my boys.

  103. Gabrielle says:

    What Silverdragon said, with tears in my eyes. Alison, thank your husband for his service, and thank you and your family for supporting him.

  104. Kate says:

    Watching all the loud, screaming children on the playground, and then seeing my little girl curled up with a book in the gazebo instead. Don’t get me wrong, she was usually one of the loud screaming children. That’s what makes the memory so magical!

  105. tl says:

    When my little boy with asperger’s blew me a kiss on his way out the door to the bus. no words can describe.

  106. Gabrielle says:

    Absolutely love this. Mazel tov on your wonderful son and his very loved sister.

  107. Gabrielle says:

    My cousin’s (adopted) son is autistic, too. He didn’t really speak until after my cousin started dating his mom. The first word B said clearly was my cousin’s name. Then he started speaking well enough to say, “Congratulations, mom and dad” at their wedding. Now he is a delightful, well-spoken kid. Congrats on your delightful son.

  108. Amber Dusick says:

    Yes. What Erica said. ๐Ÿ™‚

  109. Amber Dusick says:

    It really IS the little things. Great reminder.

  110. Amber Dusick says:

    What a great moment. Tears here too.

  111. Gabrielle says:

    What Amber said. Thank you for sharing your sons with us.

  112. Amber Dusick says:

    I can just picture this! That is wonderful.

  113. Amber Dusick says:

    Yep, more crying. That is the sweetest thing ever. I love the get him a drink part!

  114. Amber Dusick says:

    Now that is an excellent list!

  115. Amber Dusick says:

    That really is powerful when they share something special to them. How sweet and props to you for dropping everything and sharing the moment with him.

  116. Erin B says:

    We do this too… my daughter calls them hand hugs.

  117. June says:

    My son is just 11 weeks old but we already have memories I hope to never forget. When he nurses- he likes to put his hand/arm on my boob. After he’s done nursing- he will still leave his arm there- like he is spooning with it.

  118. Rebecca says:

    When my baby girl was 3 months old, we stopped under a weeping willow, on our way home from my mum’s, to feed her. A few minutes into the feed, she pulled away from me and stared up through the windscreen of the car- she was totally awestruck watching the willow waving in the wind, every now and then she’d look back at me then her dad and back at the willow, it was as though she was saying to us- wow look mum, look dad, isn’t it bea-yooo-tiful! we stayed there for nearly 15 minutes with her just watching the leaves. It’s one of my most precious memories ๐Ÿ™‚

  119. natalie says:

    I have a few, but recently, my 22 month old Ivy picked up a photo of her sister Lilly (Lilly died at birth, before Ivy was born), told me “aww. Aww, Lilly s’eeping. Cute!. Cuggles” and kissed and cuddled the photo. This made me happy and sad.

  120. Heather says:

    I had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day at work today…this had me laughing until I cried. Thank you for that.

  121. MellissaD says:

    I have an 8 month old who was a preemie also, and I did something very similar a week or so ago <3

  122. Heather says:

    Oh my goodness! That is so adorable!

  123. Heather says:

    I don’t have any kids, but I do have a niece who did something super adorable lately.
    She recently went to stay with her dad for a couple months (my sister never married the dad and he lives 900 miles away) and I went and spent an evening at my parents’ house so I could see her for a bit before she left. She has had an obsession with opening and closing things lately, so I showed her my locket and when I opened it the first time, she asked, “who’s that?” about a picture of my husband, Jim. I told her, “That’s uncle Jimmy.” She closed the locket and was having trouble opening it again, so I opened it for her and she said, “Hi uncle Jimmy!” then closed it again and said, “Where uncle Jimmy go?” Melted my heart.

  124. Eva F/ says:

    that is adorable ๐Ÿ˜‰

  125. Can you have magical moments with other people’s kids? A vivid one for me was when my little girl was a few months old and my bestie’s little boy was nearly two. We’ve always joked that they were made for each other. Anyway we were saying goodbye and asked him to say goodbye to her. He kisses her on her head and says “Love you my Alice” Seriously we both teared up with that one! I think our husbands may have too but will never admit it ๐Ÿ˜›

  126. Tricia says:

    My almost 4 year old son kissed his 6 week old baby sister on the head and said “I promise to always protect my baby sister.” So sweet!

  127. Eva F/ says:

    don’t you love how fathers will just go along with anything for their precious little daughters ๐Ÿ™‚ I remember trading my old car in (I was 25) and I felt bad because I grew attached, and I told my dad and he goes, don’t worry probably some nice old man will buy it and he will take a good care of it. My old car got probably smashed into a tin can but thanks anyway Dad, I appreciate the effort :-*

  128. Stella says:

    no thank you amber, for the giggles as i sit in my office reading your posts. *huggles*

  129. Anita says:

    โ€ŽWe were putting out each member of our Nativity and explaining them to Master 2…
    Me: These are the three wise men.
    Xander: they have presents for baby Jesus.
    Me: That’s right. And this is Joseph.
    Xander: Is he a wise man?
    Me: He probably is wise, but not one of THE three wise men. And this is Mary.
    Xander: And that’s why we say MARY Christmas!
    Tee hee
    So in the words of a very special little man ‘MARY’ Christmas everyone! โ™ฅ

  130. Charlotte says:

    We had one of those moments today. My 2 year old son was playing on the floor with my 5 month old daughter. Each time she’d make an attempt at crawling, her foot would touch my son and they’d LAUGH. Oh my. Apparently it was the funniest thing ever and they kept at it for a good half hour. ๐Ÿ™‚

  131. Jaime says:

    “nicky-toes” Love it!

  132. Jaime says:

    Your post reminds me of my oldest son. The summer he was 2.5 we would go for walks around town together and he had to stop at EVERY flower and smell it. He didn’t miss any – not even the weeds in the crack of the side walk.

  133. katie says:

    You are truly gifted. The emotion, joy, sadness or frustration that you portray with your ‘crappy drawings’ is just incredible, a treat to see and a daily addiction for me. This was the best. Thank you

  134. Tracy says:

    Wow, that made me completely tear up.

  135. One of my favorite memory pictures is of me standing in my daughter’s nursery rocking her in the summer time. Window open, breeze blowing my hair and I look down on my 3month old and she is giving me her widest brightest smile at 2a.m. I will hold that quiet image with me forever.

  136. Charity says:

    I love it. ๐Ÿ™‚

  137. Brady says:

    “magical moment memory” ๏ผŒ this memory is so vivid that is stands out from all the other memories.

  138. Ambria says:

    I’m so teary eyed at work. Not something a newly pregnant lady should be reading while working : ) I love all these stories!
    My first was when my LO smiled me for the first time. It melted my heart and I cried.
    My most recent one was today. My little man is ALWAYS on the go. Doesn’t ever stop and doesn’t like to be held. Even when he was a week old, he would just kick kick kick all day long. Today I got home from working (I work nights) and he was crying in his crib. I took him out and we went into the living room (which has the Xmas tree up with the lights on it). He let me hold him for a little bit and then started squirming. He stopped squirming and laid down on my lap, looking at the xmas tree, and let me scratch his back. We probably sat there for a good 5 or 8 minutes before he jumped up and ran away again. It’s rare when he just sits still for more than a minute at a time so when he does <3 it melts my heart. I almost feel like I shouldn't even move or breath so I don't remind him I'm holding him.

  139. I worried for a bit about the choice once I had my first baby. I remember circling a strip joint in our neighborhood where all kinds of prostitution, drug and violent activity had been going on. I was kind of fearfully praying as I walked next to my husband with our months-old son strapped to me. It was a dark, cold winter afternoon and that place felt extra dark and cold. I wondered what kind of world we had brought our son into. We rounded the corner of the building and he did something he rarely did in those days (colickly boy). He laughed the most spectacular baby laugh to himself!

  140. Elly says:

    ok…my first magical moment….. my eldest was 6 weeks old…..his dad was living, working and house-hunting for us all 300 miles away and commuting back at weekends (not fun at all)…this weekends was his birthday. i had gotten up first and left him with little’un…and while brushing my teeth…heard the first ever magical tinkle of my sons laughter, all for his daddy on his birthday! i streaked in from the birthday dribbling toothpaste all down my jammies…but honestly i could not have been happier to miss this mile-stone, happy birthday daddy!!

    xx

  141. Tanya says:

    Aww.. my little girl did that exact same thing with a flower once and ended up in tears trying to put it back. ๐Ÿ™ So cute though. ๐Ÿ™‚

  142. Heather says:

    When my son, at age 4, was given his first ever fizzy drink, he took a mouthful then with wide-eyed wonderment exclaimed, “it’s raining in my mouth Mum”!

  143. KP says:

    The first: When my daughter’s birthmother put her into my arms at 40 minutes old, my husband behind me and hugging/holding me while holding our birthmother’s hand.

    The most recent: Carrying the same, now 3 year old daughter out of the car for a little snuggle….she tilts her head up, looks up at the blue sky and I marvel at her…giggling, hugging mama, sun streaming through her curls and sparkling in her eyes. It was like a 2-second snippet from a movie that I will never forget for my whole life.

  144. I lived that exact moment with my son!

  145. Caric says:

    New to this blog, but loving it. I am not a fan of these annoying little digital abbreviations (like LOL and ROFLMAO), but, while I wasn’t rolling on any floors, I have definitely been laughing – out loud and (wishfully), my @$$ off.

  146. heatherhamadyk says:

    One of my most special magical moments happened a few days after I brought my oldest son home from the hospital. He had been crying and as I sat in the glider rocking and soothing him my mind immediately went back to the day that mother died. I remembered witnessing a tender moment between my older brother ad my mother, as I watched him stroke her hair and kiss her head to try to soothe her moments before she passed. At the time I thought about how amazing life is because 40 some-odd years ago my mother soothed my brother as a baby and now here he was 40 years later doing the same thing. As I sat in the glider with my own son, I felt this sense of peace as I thought about how years from now my son might do the same thing for me when it’s my time to go. The circle of life is an amazing thing.

  147. melissa says:

    When I was pregnant with my second son we were in the process of potty training our 18 month old. One day I was doing laundry and just happened to be washing my sons old newborn clothes for the baby and his little underwear in the same load. As I was folding everything I was remembering when he used to wear the tiny little clothes and now here I was washing underwear for him. I sat down on the floor and started crying unable to believe my baby was so grown up. Just then my son walked in and when he saw me crying he gave me a hug and a kiss and crawled into my lap to cuddle. It made my heart melt and I will never forget it.

  148. Lisa ChenNg says:

    Aw, he wants to save the flower! My magical moment is when my boy first crawled to me with purpose (I came home from work and he was so excited to see me!)

  149. My son is 3 and I had sung “You are my Sunshine” to him when he was a baby, but he doesn’t like to let me sing anymore, so its been a very long time. Then I remembered it one day and he started singing it with me! Even the part “You’ll never know dear, how much I love you!” and that was the first (and so far only) time he’s given me an “I love you”. I cried. Now he refuses to sing it again. ๐Ÿ˜›

  150. warmfuzzyfeeling says:

    Aww, thank you ๐Ÿ™‚ That’s good to know. And happy birthday to your not-so-little one!

  151. rlm says:

    aww… i think that it’s so sweet that you still remember that so well. ๐Ÿ™‚

  152. Misty says:

    That is so precious! What a darling daughter you have! <3

  153. Misty says:

    Last week my cousin’s 6 month old boy was in the hospital with meningitis. I had my 10 year old sister, my 6 and 4 year old nephews, and my 5 year old, 2 year old and 6 month old daughters with me, when I heard that they thought it may be bacterial, which is the worst one. I started crying, holding my toddler and infant close, thinking about if it were one of them. The kids saw my tears and asked what was wrong. I told them about the baby being really sick. My 6 year old suggested we pray for him. So, we held hands and all of us except the two littlest took turns praying for this sweet boy to be healed. It was so precious, listening to the innocent, faithful prayers of all these little ones. One of the sweetest moments of my life.
    It turned out to just be viral, and my cousin’s precious boy went home two days later. <3

  154. Karen says:

    This is beautiful and there are so many wonderful comments I don’t even know where to begin! Wishing love for baby sister is one of my favorites though.

    My little ones will not remember this but I will never forget the looks on their faces the first time they saw a musicbox or snowglobe. My 2.5 year old still loves it but the first time she saw it was magical. Both of them are loving the Christmas lights too. It’s a wonderful season, especially for little ones.

  155. elin says:

    Your post JD literally brought tears to my eyes. It was the “now she is 12” that knocked me…how it all really goes so fast. I will think of mine as little forever, just like my mom does me I guess! Funny thing about being parents, you never know when those tears are going to crop up!

  156. elin says:

    haha, insta-bawl that is the best word. This one made me do that too. So happy for you and your son hofmama.

  157. elin says:

    I was laying on the floor and my 10 month old DD came up and bent over and gave me a kiss for the 1st time. (open mouth slobber and all). Doesn’t get much better than that!

  158. Janelle says:

    when my son was about 6 months old, we were playing peek-a-boo and he pulled the blanket off his head, looked at us, smiled and said “HI!!!”

  159. My daughter petting Miss Kitty! for the first time. I had Miss Kitty! in my life since I was sixteen so she met all my boyfriends, was right there when Edie was born and then passed away at the ripe old age of twenty.

    She was the softest, sweetest, fluffiest cat ever. I remember the look on Edie’s face the first time we supported her to sit up and she just ‘petted’ her for five minutes and she was smiling (about a month old). It was so special – my two loves!

  160. Becca says:

    I really needed to read these today…my two year old and nine month old sons have been driving me nuts, and this was just the reminder I needed
    There are so many sweet memories, but I think one of my favorites will be my boys playing peekaboo. Both crawling around the furniture, with my older son hiding and “peeking”, and the baby just cracking up!

  161. Shannon says:

    Oh my gosh, that made me cry! Their sweet innocence is so fleeting. That’s what I get for reading your blog while pregnant. ๐Ÿ™‚ Thank you for sharing such a sweet memory!

  162. Delia says:

    Your flower story reminded me of when my 1st child was 3, she came to me, proudly holding a huge boquet of freshly picked tulips – every single one that I had carefully planted the previous fall, all of them green & barely showing a bulb! I couldn’t be upset since she was so happy & proud to present them to me.

  163. Mercy says:

    That was funny. I understand the feeling.

  164. Mercy says:

    My special moment has to be when my babies would pat my back when I was carrying them and patting them. All three of them have done it and it is special.

  165. KC says:

    My almost 2-year-old (at the time) son had to be home with me while his Daddy was away for work for 7 weeks. Daddy came home on a late-night flight and when son woke up the next morning, Daddy opened the door of his room. Thinking of the way his face lit up and he started crying still makes me tear up. I don’t think he physically let go of my husband for a full 2 hours that morning. I love my son, I love my husband, and thinking of all those “moments” of love that they share together makes life pretty darn magical.

  166. Hey great stuff, thank you for sharing this useful information and i will let know my friends as well.

  167. someone says:

    The first time my son ever laughed was on Father’s Day.. What a great gift for his Dad.. My memory is my son kicking and laughing when he sees me walk into the room! He is such a gift!

  168. Elan says:

    You make me smile and feel good on my hard day…thanks so much.

    My 7 month old daughter loves to perch right over my shoulder to look at everything, kind of at a weird angle. She has started to take one hand and pat me, rather reassuringly on the shoulder every once in a while, and it always seems to be right when I’m getting frustrated at something. It’s like she’s saying, “It’s ok, mama.” Makes me feel better almost immediately ๐Ÿ™‚

  169. Gen says:

    The first I remember is with my first son. He was probably a few months old. It was bedtime, I was sitting on the exercise ball and nursing him to sleep. His eyes were starting to get droopy, and I started softly singing “You are my sunshine” to him. He looked up at me with his great dark eyes, and gave me the sweetest sleepy smile around my breast and then closed his eyes. I totally teared up, and that memory has stuck with me.

  170. JP says:

    My favorite moment so far was when we told my then-4 year old daughter that we would be having another baby. She was soooo happy and she didn’t know why tears were coming, so she felt embarrassed and hid her face. She truly glowed. On his birthday, she held him with the same glowing rosy cheeks and big loving smile.

  171. Too cute…and funny!

  172. Kelly K says:

    Man! Just cried through almost every comment. My memory is of my daughter who was about 14 months at the time. I was down on all fours letting her put a hat on and off my head. After one time of pulling the hat off I looked at her with my hair all over my face. She brushed the hair out of my eyes and gave me a kiss on the forehead. I don’t know how she knew to do that amazingly special thing.

  173. When my youngest child figured out that dandelions were weeds he started bringing me a handful of autumn leaves instead. He was a little disappointed that they wouldn’t stay up in a cup like real flowers, so I would kiss them in his hands and we would toss them in the air and make a wish on them as they fluttered away.

  174. Amanda Moran says:

    I was reminded of this when I read this story.
    “It was one of those strange moment that came to him rarely, but never left. A moment that stamped itself on heart and brain, instantly recallable in every detail, for all his life” Diana Gabaldon, Drums of Autumn

  175. You guys are all making me cry so much as I read these. It’s so hard to remember all the moments, but a recent one for us is when my 6 year old son goes running after my 2-1/4 year old son, calling, “gimme a hug… gimme a hug…” The two of them go running around like banshees and it’s hilarious and heartwarming to watch. I also love when the older one whispers a suggestion to the younger one, and the little one follow it. Except when the suggestion is to scream at the top of their lungs (which they do often just to get a rise out of their parents). It’s still pretty cute.

  176. Melanie says:

    I try to make everything even, so here’s one for each child:
    Daughter, at about age 2 1/2. She is autistic and could only speak in memorized phrases, though she had a few that she used correctly. One day I was cleaning up the kitchen and she came up and peeked at me through the rungs on the back of a chair and said, “Ah see Oo!”
    Son, at 18 months. We went to see Daddy run a marathon in another state. Son was very interested in numbers at this point. We were waiting at the finish line when the announcer said that he could see the third place finisher coming. Son started yelling, “Three! Three!” Low and behold, Daddy was third place. Daddy says he could hear him yelling “three!” before he got there.
    Son, currently 16 months. Kisses me by planting his open mouth over my closed mouth. It is soggy and adorable.

  177. CJ says:

    you have a special boy there. so sweet! teary here to

  178. CJ says:

    wow there are some magical kids out there, it makes me have faith in the human race again. I love how my 5 month old gives me kisses when i get her up froom nap. She gets her chubby little hands, one on each side of my face, then pulls my cheek in and lpants a big wet kiss ๐Ÿ™‚

  179. Jeni says:

    Bawling my eyes out! These are soooo sweet!
    Mine has to be last easter when we’d gone for a picnic and I remember lying back on the grass and listening to my son and his daddy running around with a ball and giggling, felt so amazingly happy that day. Another was when I was completely knackered on the way home from a kiddies party in a taxi and my oldest was nodding off on my shoulder. I was just thinking to myself how rubbish a mummy I was as I’d only seen him for a couple of hours all weekend, he’d had a sleepover at his Auntie’s and then nursery, I’d been breastfeeding our brand new little guy when he’d left in the morning so hadn’t even had a proper cuddle and he’d been running round like a loon at the party. As if he could read my mind he looked up at me and said ‘I missed you ‘day mummy’, sobbed my heart out when I got home! Completely know how to pull on the heartstrings! x

  180. Sue O says:

    love that!

  181. Jo says:

    I have just seen this kinda late, I said to my 3 and a half year old just yesterday – what do you think daddy wants for christmas – she said a happy family for ever and ever <3

  182. keekopeeko says:

    I have tears streaming down my face.. All these responses are beautiful.. I wish I could capture every day as a magical memory.. It breaks my heart how much I have already forgotten from when my five year old was my only one.. I now have three little ones and sometimes the days just go way to fast. ๐Ÿ™

  183. Dori says:

    I was pushing my almost 2 year old (at the time) in the swing at the park, and totally out of the blue he looked at me and said “Mama, wind opens doors” in this rather poetic way! I will always remember that, which I call his first POEM!

  184. Suzie says:

    We had gone out to eat when my oldest was about a year and a half. As her dad took her out of the car, she looked up and said “Oh! Hi moon!”. My memory of that moment is so crystal clear.

  185. Rachel says:

    We bought our 2 and a half year old a toy laptop for christmas. One day he was sitting paying a letter game on it and doing very well recognizing his letters. I looked at him and said “You’re so smart.” He looked up at me totally seriously and replied “THANK you Mommy” (absolutely perfectly, without slurring any words). I was just an amazing moment because i felt like i was seeing the little boy he’s going to grow into.

  186. Grace says:

    Oh I laughed so hard I cried! at the crappy baby wanting to put flower back. too funny!

  187. Marlene says:

    I keep a journal & take tons of photographs so that I never forget these moments. My oldest is 4 so I have tons but I think my favorites are narrowed down to two.
    One morning my bf came into my room where me and my daughter were and said “hey, let’s make pancakes” and my daughter (who was almost 2) squealed, jumped up and down and clapped her hands and said “yeah! mommy let’s make messes!!!” She had misunderstood what he had said and was heart broken when I explained he had said pancakes. The look of delight on her face at first I will never forget.
    The second would be how she would always try to see her baby brother through my belly button and then cup her hands around her mouth and shout into my tummy “Isaac are you hungwy?” Then she’d go to her room and “make” him food and try to push into my belly.
    With my son (who was about 19 months at the time) it was a time I took him to a birthday party. We only knew a handful of people but when we I told him we were leaving he ran away and when I followed him he was giving each person a hug. Most people were in the middle of converstations and laughed to see some random little boy embracing their legs. He’s a very tender hearted boy and I only hope to cultivate it as he grows.
    My youngest, is a 1 year old girl. She, like my other two kids, was not a very cuddly baby. All three of my kids need to be in their bed, alone to fall aslepp. No late nights in a rocking chair for me. My oldest two grew into loving cuddles and lap sitting but she hadn’t yet. I was talking to my family a couple months back about how I wished at least ONE of my children was cuddly as a baby and how my youngest still didn’t like to be held. That night (as if she understood me) she laid in my arms till she fell asleep. Every night since then she will only go to sleep if she is rocked first. It’s such a magical moment for me.

  188. Becca says:

    I absolutely love you blog. I’ve been going through them all day as I go through the routine of having a 2 mo old. My magical moment is when I first started breastfeeding this lil’ guy. He’d head butt my boob a bunch and then stop… look at me to make sure I’m still there.. then continue feeding. He’d stop to check on me several times. I love it. With my first boy I’d have to say it was when I walked in and he had all of the pooey contents of his diaper smeared all over himself, the crib, and was eating it… Top 10 grossest things ever!

  189. Kammie says:

    Hi Amber!
    I have to tell you something funny about this blog! I read this “Flower” Blog sometime last year. I LOVED this blog. I have a toddler who is 20 months old now. When I read this blog she was about 15 months old. Anyway, I pictured this scenario in my head over 121 times happening with my daughter over the past few months. I couldn’t wait for this moment to happen to me! It would be so special! I would remember it forever. So last weekend I took my daughter to grandma’s house. We were playing in the yard and she saw a flower in the garden. She walked up to it and smiled. You could see the excitement in her eyes! She looks back at me to see if it was ok that she touch it. I nodded that it was ok. After she touched it and looked at it she decided to pick it. (first flower ever). I thought to myself…This is it!!! This is THAT moment! Just like the blog!! It has arrived! She is going to bring that flower to ME!! Then I notice grandma is standing right next to me. Now..is she going to give the flower to me? She looked at the flower, looked at me, looked at grandma, looked at me, looked at grandma. I am getting nervous now. Then, She walked straight over to grandma and handed her the flower! I pretty much died inside!!! I laugh about it now…but at the time my eyes filled with tears! I tried to tell my husband this story but he just laughed at me! I guess things never go as planned! I will remember this moment forever. Not the way I wanted but…what can I do! lol Hopefully, I will get the next “moment”.

  190. Michaelina says:

    This is also one of my magical moment memories. My husband and I bring it up often. “Remember when Maddy first learned about irreversible change?” Then we both giggle a little. Luckily I just happen to have a picture of her trying to put it back, but before the tears began.

  191. Samantha says:

    When my son (Eli) was about 18months old he had wandered off on my moms property (5acres backed by thousands of acres of public hunting!) I yelled his name, nothing, yelled again ..nothing and I panicked! I was screaming bloody murder for him and finally he came running from the pasture, I ran towards to him and scolded him up close and he just grabbed my cheeks and kissed me on the mouth, I just cried!

  192. Elly says:

    My daughter, describing a daisy for the first time….

    “Look! Yellow pom-pom nose.”

    brings happy tears to my eyes just thinking about it!

    ๐Ÿ™‚

    xx

  193. Amanda Johnson says:

    My magic moments are when I notice a slight change in my children’s mannerisms, postures etc. The one which I immediately thought about after reading this post was when my 2 year old boy discovered his jeans had pockets. I walked back into the front room and he was leaning against the sofa with both his hands in his pockets, I had a momentary flash of how he’d look when he’s a hairy teenager. Sounds daft and there’s lots and lots of obvious heart warming ‘I love you Mummy’ moments, but things like this remind me my babies are growing up and are changing every day.

  194. Erin says:

    I have a two year old boy, and another on the way. Recently, I showed my son a picture of himself as a newborn and told him that this was him as a little baby, and this is what his baby brother would look like. He studied the picture closely, then said “Yeah!” and patted my belly and leaned in close and said “Hi baby.”

  195. neo says:

    I was giving my baby clementine orange slices. She was gobbling them up. She was only 13 months old and most of her communication is nonsensical babbling. I was sing song talking to her, “baby loves oranges!”, and she said I wuv orshes! (I love oranges!). Every time I think of it, it makes me smile.

  196. Anne Pernick says:

    My wobbler/toddler daughter and I were sitting on the couch enjoying some graham crackers and our sweet old dog (whom we just had to put to sleep last week) came by and my daughter fed her some graham crackers. It just made me so happy.

  197. Sarah says:

    My son took a long time to learn to nurse, and I remember one of the first good nursing sessions, he was 2 months old, in the cutest little pajamas that reminded me of pilots’ coveralls, and his arms were getting a little too long for them. He just stared and stared and stared at me with his big dark eyes as he ate, and I was so happy.
    Now, at 22 months, he likes to make “brown soup” with a couple of measuring cups or spoons and feed it to us and our cats, and tell us all the things he’s going to do with baby sister, whose arrival is imminent.

  198. Katja says:

    Mine is not really an awww memory, more of a LOL are you for real? memory.
    My third child and second son was born at home in the evening. The following morning we were all on the bed looking at this brand new human. So I change his diaper and my barely 2 yr old son says: “Hey, he has a penis, just like me”. I reply: “Yes, he’s a boy just like you”. My son is quiet for a moment and then says: “Mine is bigger!”

  199. Rose says:

    When I was breastfeeding my 2 month old daughter and wasn’t paying much attention, noticed she had stopped eating so I looked down to the most gorgeous full on smile aimed right at me. Melted my heart ๐Ÿ™‚

  200. Erin says:

    My son, aged about 18 months at the time, was using our couch as a jungle gym and my husband was holding out a hand to catch him in case he fell. Son: “No, Daddy, no hand!” Husband: “I’m worried you will fall down and have a big owie.” Son, very happily: “Fall down, have big owie, Mommy kiss you!”

  201. missus webster says:

    I look at these as “perfect moments” when everything just fits together. I was under sooo much stress after working at a festival 16 hours a day for 12 days. My husband took us out to dinner to celebrate closing. I was beyond exhausted – I was wrung out, and had nothing left. I don’t even remember what I ate – but evidently I must have. In a fog, we are walking back to the car to go home, and I feel this little hand slide into mine.

    Suddenly all worries and cares are lifted. I feel the loving hand in mine, and notice the beautiful sunset for the first time – life looks pretty good.

    A perfect moment.