Quinn is madly in love with me right now. Randomly, throughout the day, she will grab hold of my arm, or stroke my hair, or touch my face while proudly proclaiming “MY mama.”

It is the cutest, sweetest thing, ever.

She also loves to give me kisses and hugs, to point at my nose and her nose, solemnly informing me “noe.” She is also really into nursing right now, though she’s still only doing it 3-4 times in a 24 hour period. She points at my shirt excitedly and says “nurse” and gets all giggly and thrilled when I make it clear I’ve understood.

She is so sweet to others right now, too. She loves kissing other babies and kids, patting her stuffies to her shoulder, and cuddling with her best little baby friends.

The other day, she wrapped her arms around my husband, let out this huge sigh and then said “Oh, dadda,” in a breathy voice before resting her head on his shoulder. Do I need to tell you he had tears in his eyes?

This is a beautiful phase. But that’s the problem, it’s only a phase. Like when she went through that period of saying tukka, tukka, tukka, or even her current obsession with sauce, and calling lots of non-sauce things “good sauce” in order to convey her approval, this lovestruck period is just another stop on her path to selfhood.

I know that her sweetness will probably remain, though it will manifest itself in different ways, including excitedly bashing toy cars against my head, or pouring water all over her beloved dadda.

I know she loves her mommy, and that that will never change (even when she screams otherwise and slams the door on my face), but her current way of expressing it will, so I’m trying to sit next to her, pay close attention, and memorize the way this feels with every cell of my body.

I hope I can!