They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. What
about just being in constant proximity? Does that make the heart grow fonder?
One has to wonder if that might be true or at least true for Ellie.
Over the past week or so, that little girl has been growing
increasingly more fond of me. It's such a weird experience seeing as how for
most of her life, Bethany has been the constant object of her affection. Oddly
enough, that is now changing.
Some of this information comes secondhand, but I feel like
there's still plenty of truth to it. For example, according to Bethany, Ellie
has gotten into the habit of asking where I am as soon as she wakes up in the
morning (or the middle of the night). If I happen to be at the gym, that will
result in a brief crying session coupled with continually questioning why I
have to go to the gym.
If I happen to be snuggling in bed with Ethan in his room,
then Ellie will not rest until she sees me. Apparently this morning, she
finally talked Bethany into letting her open the bedroom door so that she could
just confirm that I was still there. To her credit though, she let me continue
sleeping despite Ethan waking up. In case you're wondering, I was unbelievably
confused when I woke up and Ethan was missing as Bethany had already come to
claim him.
Oddly enough, Ellie wanting to be with me isn't an isolated
experience. For example, Bethany happened to be off work early today due to an
eye appointment. One would automatically assume that meant Ellie wouldn't let
her mother out of her sight. That was not the case as the promise of an
afternoon daddy-daughter date completely swayed Ellie's opinion on the matter. On
this particular daddy-daughter date, there would be three stops: Target, the
library, and Dairy Queen.
For our trip to Target, our shopping list was relatively
simple. All we needed was a new box of diapers for Ethan and a couple of cans
of pineapple chunks. Neither of those things are particularly interesting to
Ellie. Our next two stops were more about her though.
As one could probably guess, the library is one of Ellie's favorite
places in the world. Between the overwhelming stacks of books, movies, and
music coupled with the coloring tables, educational computers, and random toys,
there's plenty to keep Ellie satisfied. On this day, unfortunately for Ellie,
the computers happened to be broken. It's ok though as we still got to have fun
playing with these weird interlocking blocks followed by coloring together.
Honestly, there's not much I like better than coloring with Ellie. Not only is
it super relaxing but it's an easy activity for us to share in together. Plus,
it fosters all kinds of conversation even if it's about something as simple as
"Daddy, why are you making a purple rabbit?". For the record, we had
a very limited array of colors to choose from and the purple was relatively
sharp.
Once we left the library, it was time for us to head to our
final destination (accompanied by the 'Moana' soundtrack I had gotten for Ellie
at the library), Dairy Queen. Trips to DQ aren't really a super common thing in
the Holt household. Today was cause for celebration though. You see, Ellie had
attained her fifth sticker meaning she had earned an ice cream date with one of
her parents. You're probably a little confused by the sticker thing. Let me
explain.
Bethany and I have been attempting to potty train Ellie
during her naps in recent weeks. While she's been potty-trained for quite some
time, Ellie still struggles with wetting her pants during both naps and
overnight. Therefore, we instituted a sticker chart where every five stickers
gains her an ice cream date. She can received one sticker for keeping her
diaper dry at naptime and two stickers if she can go all night. Thus far, she's
definitely racked up these ice cream dates much faster than anticipated.
Since Ellie enjoyed an ice cream cone on her last ice cream
date, I decided we should broaden her horizons a little on this one and
lovingly guided her towards the Dilly Bar section. Imagine my delight when I
saw her settle on a Cherry-flavored Dilly Bar. As she savored every morsel of
her treat, I was encouraged by the fact that she continued to engage me in
conversation despite there being a tasty treat in her mouth most of the time. I
guess she really is getting attached to me. So much so that she asked me multiple times when our next daddy-daughter date would be.
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| Contrary to how this picture may look, Ellie was pretty stoked about her Dilly Bar. |
In case additional confirmation of her attachment to me is
necessary, look no further than the fact that the very last person she wants to
see before bed is me. For at least this brief window in our daughter's life,
I'm #1. Take that, Bethany! :) #DaddyWrite
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| See, the baby got to participate in couch-time snuggles too! |
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