I don't ever want to forget

Today, I'm linking up with Kate Motaung's Five Minute Friday. The rules: Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.

This week's prompt: Forget.

During this season of motherhood, there is so much I don't ever want to forget.

I don't ever want to forget the way you wake up with a smile on your face, eager to explore the world around you. May it always be so.   

I don't ever want to forget the way your hand traces my face as you nurse.   

I don't ever want to forget the way you grab your spoon and help Daddy feed you, a sign I think, of how fiercely independent you're going to soon be.

I don't ever want to forget the way you hold up both your hands and reach for me when you want to be held. 

I don't ever want to forget the wideness of your smile and how it's so impossibly big you have to shake your head frantically from right to left in order to spread it even further. 

I don't ever want to forget the ease with which you go to other people, something that is pretty terrifying for your introverted mama.   

I don't ever want to forget the sweetness of your giggle.   

I don't ever want to forget your cry.   

I don't ever want to forget the speed at which you crawl.

I don't ever want to forget the look of sheer determination found on your face when you pull yourself up and reach for something you cannot have with those freakishly long arms of yours.  

I don't ever want to forget how you love to lift the flaps on your zoo book, eager to read just like your mama.      

I don't ever want to forget how long you can sit and watch the birds in the parakeet aviary at the zoo.   

Of course, baby girl, I will never forget you.   

You are loved, valued, and treasured.     

But this small stuff, baby girl. 

It's SO good.     

And I don't want to forget it either.