What a sweet story. :) Didn't think the feelings would really grow so, but at the end... low and behold those. Awesome work building that up. I was thinking as he climbed the tree that the background seemed pretty static. Think it'd add a lot if the leaves rustled a bit as he climbed, or some other background ambience was going on there, but otherwise the animation's great. Smooth and full of expression, even if the button eyes were kind of strange and all. The build-up is really what makes it so great. Masterful work with that!
-cd-