Dadadada

Dear Riley,
Have I told you about your Daddy? You are a Daddy’s girl, little lady, and it shows in everything you do. Your entire body smiles when he walks in the door from work and you demand to be picked up at that very instant. If he refuses such requests, he is met with your angry voice, until he can’t take it anymore and comes to rescue you from your gated-in play area. There are times when he sees you and his only reaction is “Oh, you are so beautiful” to which you respond with one of your trillion billion dollar smiles and then throw your arms around his neck and give him a hug. In those moments, I’m never sure whose face is shining brighter, yours, or your Daddy’s. While you are mostly a momma’s girl, due to the fact that most of your waking hours are spent with me, you love to play with daddy. On the day you were born, the doctors and nurses had you under a warming lamp and he just sat there and stared at you for so long. Eventually one of the nurses told him he could touch you and his response was “Oh, I wasn’t sure!” On the first night after you were born, he spent the majority of it jumping three hundred feet in the air every time you made a sound. Every morning when he leaves for work, you let out a shriek as though you are fairly certain that could have been the last time you were going to see him. Sometime when I look at you, I swear he is the one looking back at me, but he continues to maintain that you get your “cuteness” from me. He is everything I thought he would be in a dad- caring, unconditionally loving, hard working, fun, and usually the disciplinarian because if I tell you no, you just look at me and smile. From Daddy, it means business. You love to play with him, and you REALLY love to hang out in his office. For some reason, you have developed a silly obsession with a bottle of Cholua that he has at his office, and every time we are there, you grab for it first, and then proceed to take the National Geographics off the book shelf. A few weeks ago, we took you to a play area at the mall, and there were probably 80 parents all crowded around the outer area of it, and amongst the scads of people, you found him, your Daddy, and gave him the biggest grin I’d ever seen. Sometimes, when I leave the room and you start to wail, he tells you that he’s pretty sure I’m not running away with Kris Allen just yet. More often than not he says that Matt Nathanson could be your new daddy, and he laughed when I asked if we could offer you up to Super Bowl MVP (and Momma’s favorite football player) Drew Brees’ son. He sees you for what you are- your own, new, exciting, individual person, and he sees the potential you have in you. (I mean, come on, you are OUR kid) He and I make a great team together, your parents, and that’ what we are- a team. He loves our company on a trip to Buena Vista to get the snowmobile trailer, even if you do sleep for 3 hours, and I never stop talking. He was absolutely giddy when he went to Kaye’s last week and ordered you a grilled cheese and French fries. I don’t know how you feel yet, but I know that I breathe a little bit easier when he’s around- relief for the missing piece to my puzzle that has been found.
I love you Riley D. Almost as much as I love your Daddy. ;o)
Momma