Children are like kaleidoscopes, changing and shifting constantly, allowing us unexpected glimpses into a world we don't recognize or can't remember. Their ability to amaze us is endless: Just as we've become used to them doing one thing, they're doing another; just when we realize they've learned something new, they're on to yet a different challenge; and just when we think they've done the most incredible thing we've ever seen, or that we've experienced the most towering feeling we have the ability to feel, they do something that makes us feel even more joy and love – something that makes us feel so good it's close to heartache.

Children's fascination with their world reflects the sense of wonder we have observing them. As they learn and discover new things at every turn, testing, analyzing, struggling and finally triumphing with a satisfied expression that says, "I did that," we watch them in speechless astonishment, trying to fathom how they came to exist, how they acquired all the same parts we have, how it is that they can breathe and think and do. They mesmerize us by doing anything and by doing nothing.

Like a wedding that goes by too fast, we wish we could bottle every movement, every gesture, every little sneeze or hiccup, every sleeping breath. We love to watch them grow up and at the same time we want to slow them down. We're thrilled when they accomplish something new, yet if we could we would stop time to freeze these moments, entrench them so they can never slip away.

We can't record it all, unfortunately (since no one has invented a video camera that runs indefinitely). And because we are left to rely on our own eyes as the cameras we must use to capture the development of these captivating beings, some moments naturally stand out above others – unforgettable snapshots that make us laugh with surprise, weep with joy, smile with affection or just shake our heads with awe.

Often the moments that move us most are those that demonstrate the fundamental magic of children: their ability to warm our souls merely by showing that they know who we are and trust us to protect them. Chad, a father in Las Vegas, Nev., says the moment his daughter, Simone, clearly recognized him for the first time is the one that will always be most poignant. "One morning I came into her room to get her out of her crib and, as she awoke, she looked up at me, smiled and reached out," he says. "It was as though she was saying, 'Hi, Daddy! Nice to see you!' for the first time. There was no concrete evidence for this, but I knew it in my heart. I'll never forget it as long as I live."

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