Video of toddlers hugging on the sidewalk is melting hearts online

(Michael D Cisneros via WPIX New York, CNN)

TORONTO -- A video of two toddlers gleefully running into each other’s arms for a big hug is melting hearts all across social media.

The pure joy that two-year-old “besties” Finnegan and Maxwell Cisneros have simply seeing each other is hard to deny. And Maxwell’s dad, Michael, certainly couldn’t.

"They just took off towards each other and got my phone out as quickly as I (could) to record it,” he told WPIX New York. “They are just too cute together."

The original video of the pint-sized partners in crime, which was posted on Sunday, has been viewed more than 59,000 times and shared more than 1,600 times.

But the moment nearly wasn’t captured. Cisneros said he doesn’t typically post a lot of private videos onto Facebook but felt he needed to because he felt he’d captured something special.

"It's great to spread the love and to show that kind of love and beauty in the world," he said. "With all the racism and hate going on, I just think it's a really beautiful video.”

He told the New York TV station that "the reason it's getting attention is because it is with a little black boy and a little white boy. But if it can change someone's mind or their view on things then it's totally worth it.”

The now-iconic duo live in the same New York neighbourhood, have regular play dates and have known each other for a year.

The tots and their parents recently started taking the same bus to daycare together every morning. Cisneros said "there's not anyone else that comes close to ‘Finnegan’ status in Maxwell's eyes."

Cisnero, who’s friends with Finnegan’s father, told ABC News that the toddlers also go to music classes together and both love to dance. “When they are away from each other, they are always asking about one another,” he said.

He also told HuffPost that the inseparable tots pair share “food, clothes, toys, everything” and that “they communicate with each other in ways we don’t understand, but they sure do.”

Although the overwhelming response has been positive, unfortunately, he said there were some naysayers who’ve accused the parents of faking the interaction.

But Cisneros has a message for them: "(It’s) definitely not staged and it was just a lucky moment and I caught it on camera.

“Now, with all the attention it’s getting it’s just a great story to tell him when he's older -- both of them,” he said.