When Daddy Becomes the King

"Daddy!  Daddy!  Daddy! Daddy watch me.  Daddy hold me.  Daddy play with me."

Am I chopped liver?  Already?  I thought I hung the moon, but I suppose it's time to pass that torch to ...Daddy.

See, for the first 19 or so months of her life, I reigned supreme. In my defense, I nursed her for 13 of them so I kinda had to be her #1.  But, for the following six months, she still thought I was the peanut butter to her jelly and the meatball to her spaghetti. Never in a million years would she pass up time with Mommy for anyone, including Daddy.

Sigh. The time has come that I must share her love with someone, anyone else. I guess I'm pretty lucky that this person is Daddy. Confession: But, I miss being her one and only.

Holy crap Daddy is fun. And, loud. And, funny. He's like a human playground.

We both work outside of the home. But, Daddy works farther away, which means his commute takes him away from the house longer than mine. I ride my bike to work, thankyouverymuch. So, Baba and I have a lot more time together each day before Daddy gets home.

Daddy's not quiet at all.  So, his entrance into our home at the end of the day is certainly no surprise. Even if she's sleeping, she can be roused by one simple close of a door and exclaim "DADDY!" even in mid-sleep. Thankfully, most of the time, she's awake and she can commence her fun with the guy who gets the fun done.

What I am happy about is that Daddy has found his place in Baba's heart - and he knows it. While she was exclusively nursing, there was little he could do. Yes, he could bathe her and read her stories but how exciting is that really to a being that barely acknowledges you to be any different than say, Jack, our next door neighbor? (That's his name.  Really). For a long time he just seemed to feel like another fleeting person in Baba's life - one who barely left his mark on her.

Until now. Man, does she love him.

We went away a few weekend ago - just Daddy and I. It was amazing and just what we needed to reconnect and rejuvenate ourselves and our marriage. It was a perfect two days.

We both couldn't wait to get home to see her.

The best part was that her excitement was double what we expected - equally shared between Mommy and Daddy. How cool. Mommy got to cuddle and read stories while Daddy got to watch her tumble down the slide and navigate the water through the water table.

This is an amazing age - almost two. I am thrilled that she has finally found a (big ole) place for Daddy in her heart - one that I am sure will keep growing and blossoming. And, to watch this grown man now realize how unbelievably cool he is in her eyes - it's love.

Let your heart melt, it's OK.