Quality Daddy Time

It seems most days that by the time Daddy comes walking in the door from work, Olivia and I are both ready and glad to see someone else. Don't get me wrong, I love her and she adores me, but we are both excited to see C's smiling face walk in the door. He always tells me hello first, then he swoops up Olivia from wherever she is, and off they go. Putting away Daddy's keys, taking off his shoes, picking up his dishes from lunch...it doesn't matter what the task is, Olivia wants to be smack dab in the middle of it in her Daddy's arms.

Sometimes Liv has already eaten dinner, and other times she still needs to be fed. On nights where she's already been fed, her daddy gives her a bath (where they play and laugh and splash) then gets her into her jammies. After she kisses me goodnight, they disappear into her bedroom.

Usually, I'm cooking dinner and don't really give them another thought until C emerges ready to eat. But recently I started to wonder what was taking him so long to get her to sleep, so I tip toed over and snuck a peek. Here is what I saw:

Somewhere along the way, C decided to make bedtime stories a nightly thing. We've always read to her, but she rarely sits still long enough with me to make it through a board book. I grabbed the camera and snapped this shot, then took the video below. I believe that C was reading the Disney version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears from a book of nursery rhymes and fairy tales that he picked out himself when we were shopping months ago.

I've known since our second date that C would be a good father one day, but he surprises me still with how loving and patient he is with his daughter. What a sweet pair they make, my two favorite people in the world.