Dadda

Being apart from your baby for 7 months is tremendously difficult. I know I couldn't do it. Mike is having a tough time missing his baby right now, especially since he wasn't here for her first birthday. His biggest fear is that Grace will not remember him when he gets back. Quite often his emails end with "...don't let Grace forget about me."

To follow through with his request, a few times everyday I showed her pictures of her Daddy on the computer. But she kept wanting to kiss the screen so I bought a little baby album and filled it pictures of Daddy. It's become one of her favorite books to look at. She'll bring it up to me saying, "Dadda." And if I point and ask her who is in the picture, she'll say it's Dadda in the sweetest voice imaginable.

When I point to a picture of me- silence. Sometimes she'll look at me and giggle. She still doesn't say Mama unless she's upset, tired, or hungry. And by then, she's in such an irritable mood that my name is always said in a grouchy way. Just once I'd like to hear her say Mama with the same sweet voice she uses to say Dadda.

Grace is a Daddy's girl for sure. And I really like that. Every good Daddy should have a Daddy's girl.