Daddy's Girl

Hannah is a daddy's girl.  She adores her daddy.  She always wants him to hold her.  "I want my Daddy pick uh up," she says.  When Hannah wants to go get something (like her blanket), she wants Daddy to go with her.  "Daddy come and hold my hand."  When Hannah doesn't like what I'm asking her to do (like wash her hands), she'll cry, "I want my Daddy."

Our daily evening routine is a great example.  When I pick the girls up at school at the end of the day and take them home, there's a little time before Daddy gets home.  Hannah starts asking for Daddy before we leave the school grounds, usually when I put her in her car seat.  At that point it's just talking about Daddy, such as "I go see Daddy," or something like that.  That's followed with the first of many "Daddy will be home soon" statements from me.  Then we get to our driveway.  "Daddy home?" she asks.  "Not yet, but Daddy will be home soon," I assure her.  Then we go inside and unload everything (quite a process with a baby, a toddler, and a mom that pumps at work).  More requests for Daddy follow.  "I want my Daddy."  Any time Oliver barks (which is frequent), or a small sound comes from outside, Hannah immediately gets excited and turns to me with wide eyes and asks, "Daddy home?!"

Oddly, when Daddy does get home, Hannah gets excited for a minute, but then often she pretty much ignores him.

After dinner, it's bath time.  Now, Jim had the honor of overseeing bath time for the latter part of my pregnancy and then for Emma's early days.  It was just easier.  In fact, as long as I am nursing Emma, it's easier for Jim to do a lot of things with Hannah (and perhaps this is why she has become such a Daddy's girl?).  Lately, I've been trying to do more bath time with Hannah, partly to give Jim a break from bending over the tub and partly to spend more time with my big girl.  But often when I tell Hannah it's bath time and try to lead her upstairs, I get rejected.  "I want Daddy do it," she says.  And she'll proceed to have a fit if we overrule her.

After bath time is book and song time, another opportunity for me to get some Hannah time and for Jim to get a break.  But another rejection often follows the attempted pass-off.  "I want my Daddy read me."  Again, sometimes we overrule her, like when Jim is going to the gym and needs to get moving.  We tell her Daddy has to go to the store (because she understands that).  "I want Daddy stay hee-ah," she'll protest, crying.  By now, my feelings are hurt.  Not really... but a little.  But then I read to her and she lets me hold her while singing a song, and it's all worth it.

Will Emma be as much of a daddy's girl?