Daddy? Daddy? Daddy!

I believe Inara has officially begun the daddy stage. She has been asking for him a lot more than usual ,and the second he gets home, it's as if mommy doesn't exist. Trust me, I'm happy to get a lil break from the never-ending mommy mode. Along with this new stage, Inara did two things she's never done before this week. First on Monday, when Shawn was leaving for work, Inara followed him to the garage door, put her hands and head on it, and cried "Daddy! Daddy!" I've never seen her do this as the only time she has cried when someone leaves was when I have left. It broke my heart to see her so sad, but I also thought it was funny to watch and so innocent and sweet. Then Wednesday, when Shawn was leaving for work, he picked her up to give her a hug and kiss. I came up and put my arms around the two of them only to be met with a push from Inara and a stern "NO." She did not like me infringing on her daddy time I guess. I did it a second time and had the same results. I loved it! I think it's so cute when kids do this because they want their daddy all to themselves. I totally get it.

Bedtime has been a challenge now that the daddy stage has started. Shawn put her to bed a couple nights in a row and faced a battle. In the past, we have laid her in bed, rubbed her back and hair for a short bit, said our good-byes, and left the room with no problem. Not this week. The second daddy leaves the room, Inara stands up and screams for him to come back. So Shawn figured out that he needs to stay in the room until she falls asleep. He sits in the rocking chair right next to her crib so she can see him. One night she still kept getting up even with daddy sitting in the rocker right next to her. So he figured out she wanted daddy to hold her. Althought it made for a long bedtime process, Shawn said he loved it because she's not one to cuddle very often, so it felt so awesome to hold her and rock her to sleep. Wednesday night when I put her to sleep and today at naptime, Inara struggled a bit because she kept standing up in the crib, pointing to the rocking chair, and saying "Daddy?" I have had to explain to her mommy was here for her, and daddy was working. Today, every time she stood up and asked for Shawn and I replied, "Daddy's at work," she responded with the saddest, most pathetic "oh" as if I had just squashed her dream or something. It takes at least 5 or 6 times of softly asking for daddy that she gets that he's not coming in to see her off to sleep. It's one of the sweetest moments to see. She really loves her daddy and misses him lots. It's a good thing they are having a father-daughter day tomorrow. I know she will love having him all to herself. (Mommy is excited too because I have a whole day all to myself. I've forgotten what that is like. Hope I can enjoy myself without my shadow in tow.)