I want a picture of this moment

Does she know that we love her?  I am pretty sure that she does by the way she giggles, the way she lights up when she sees us, and the way she loves to be held close.  And, I know that she'll be sure of it when she sees the thousands of pictures we've taken in her first months alone.  Yet, there are still some moments that escape the camera.  Some of them happen so quickly and are so fleeting that is impossible to even reach for the camera before they are over.  As of late, this is when she sets her head on my chest to cuddle so warmly.  Some of these moments happen in the dark of the night during a time that is too fragile to disturb.  Like her beautiful face as she sleeps peacefully.  I will burn them to the hard disc of my memory, hanging on to these memories the most.

Last night, she woke up while I was nearing the end of one of my guilty pleasures: watching TV by myself.  I crawled into bed with them.  Daddy had started singing to baby girl, because I took an extra 30 seconds to pee before running up.  I usually have all of about 3 seconds to get up the stairs from the moment she first stirs before it's the worst thing that ever happened.  She nursed for a little and then rolled over towards Daddy.  I thought I had gotten lucky and she'd just pass back out.  That is, until she started to stir again.  I hoped that I didn't fully wake her by making my short pit stop.  After all, it was a necessity.

All of a sudden, a little hand reached up and landed on Daddy's arm.  She was touching him on purpose.  Her hand just rested there so sweetly.  I stared at them in the dark, wishing that I could take a picture of this moment.  But, that would ruin the moment and everyone's sleep.  She spent the good bit of the next 10 minutes rolling back and forth between nursing next to me and stroking Daddy's arm while he slept.  She finally decided that she wanted to keep nursing, so she reached behind her with her little arm to see if she could both nurse with Mommy and touch Daddy at the same time.  She could not, but she left that arm out there reaching for him as she drifted to sleep.

Yes, she knows we love her. And she loves us, too.