Babies Don't Keep

Our son has been a good sleeper since he was a newborn.  Truly, we are blessed.  (Mommy is a fan of naps, too, so he gets his honest.)
Lately he has wanted to rock and snuggle before bedtime, and I won't lie, it has made my heart swell.
He is getting so big so fast and it truly is going like a blink of an eye.  Everyone told me that it would, but I had no idea just how fast.
So instead of being annoyed or "put out" that he wants to snuggle and rock, for up to an hour sometimes, I am relishing it.  I am soaking it in.
We sit in the glider that has been in his room since before he was born and I hold him just like I did when he was a newborn.  This lasts approximately 27 seconds, but it is the sweetest 27 seconds of my day.
I hold him, caress him, pray over him, sing to him and just snuggle him.  I've been told to always be the last one to let go of a child's hug and, I will hold to this for as long as he is giving me hugs.  
He is so independent already, in just another few blinks, he won't want me to hold him or snuggle him at all.  (Which, I hope isn't completely true.)
My heart absolutely melts when I am tickling his back and take a break and he reaches his little hand over and moves my hand to tickle him again.  Or how he leans his head over for kisses every now and then, just to make sure I am still there.
I want to bottle this time up.  I want to keep it forever.
I pray I am always this close to my little man.  That he always wants to hold mommy's hand and will always reach out for me to be sure I am still there.
I tell him over and over that I will be and I hope he knows that I mean it as much as I possibly can.
This little man has made my world and he is the reason I wake up everyday.  So, if I have to take a few extra minutes of laying on a hard wood floor at night to help him sleep better, it's a small price to pay for memories I will look back on when he is an adult and has a little Monster Man of his own.

"Babies Don’t Keep"

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren’t his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

Author: Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

So true.  Babies don't keep.  However, I can keep these precious moments in my heart forever.  This little man has no idea how happy and complete he makes our lives.