daddy!

We’re at a weekend away at the beach, and Ari’s started something I haven’t seen from her so far.  On the night we got here, she went down to bed after a long car ride without a hitch, then started crying passionately as soon as I reached the door.  This in itself isn’t remarkable.  But then, when I went back in for my one-time rescue, she didn’t want to be picked up; she just dove back between her stuffed animals and, contently, allowed me to sing another verse and stroke her back.  Unusual.

John and I normally rescue once, sometimes twice if something is a bit unusual.  But, as I waited for John to arrive (he was coming from his moonlighting gig in a nearby beach town), my hosts through airbnb (who were kindly chatting and baby-holding over a glass of cabernet) asked if they could comfort her.  Sure, we’re on vacay, no need to be a stickler with all the rules.  And the same thing happened: Ari didn’t want to be picked up; really didn’t even require any soothing; would leap into her sleeping position as soon as she saw someone had returned.

When John observed this behavior during nap-time and again at bed-time the next day, we considered that maybe she’s just of the age when she doesn’t feel comfortable sleeping in an unfamiliar room by herself–is this a thing?  Thinking back, as a kid, I think I probably didn’t feel too secure sleeping someplace new on my own.  John’s solution: lie down next to Ari’s pack-n-play and take a snooze on the floor.  Worked well during nap-time, but clearly he would at some point need to get up at bed-time to have dinner and, well, not sleep an entire night on the floor.

After about 30 minutes of lying next to our honey, intermittently singing and stroking her back, I interrupted.  How do you feel about breaking the rules?  We extricated Aurelia from the confines of her pack-n-play so we could watch the fiery sun sink over the bay.

In these next two pictures, John was telling Ari, “Come-here, Come-‘ere, Come-‘ere!”  So she was waving her hand toward herself to signal the sentiment.

I love how Aurelia is so lovingly leaning into him!

Evelyn, mouth gaping as well, joins in with the crazy:

Happy father’s day, to this crazy cat, who doesn’t think twice about simply sleeping on the floor next to his daughter to help her feel safe, and does/thinks/feels about a million and a half other things daily that make us so lucky to have him!  And to our fathers, and the other daddies in our lives, both peers and mentors–so much love!