Daddy and Daughter

This morning Tessie woke up a little earlier than normal.  She has a very hard time waking up and usually spends some time in her room alone before she wanders out, bleary eyed, and mumbling good morning.  It is like looking in a mirror.  We are a matching pair in the morning, Mom clutching to coffee, daughter clutching to Mom. 

This morning she wanted to get dressed right away and wanted me to go pick out her outfit.  This is a set-up because nothing I pick out will be deemed appropriate by my little fashionista.  I attempt it anyway and bring her a blue ruffly shirt and and equally ruffly pink shirt.  “Nooooooo.  I want a dreeeeeeessssss.”  So far my efforts to convince Tes that whining is not an appropriate means of communication have fallen on deaf ears.  I say that if she doesn’t like what I picked out then she can go pick something herself.  Tessie describes the dress she wants in her closet and throws in a very nice please so I take one last stab at it and of course, I do not pick the right dress.  At this point Tessie starts to majorly melt down and I have had enough of the personal shopper bit.  I let her know I will not put up with this behavior and I leave the room.  Her very dramatic cries follow me up the stairs to my bathroom and continue as I take a deep breath and count to ten.  When I reach seven I hear the back door open and close and the crying stop.  Since I know I shouldn’t let her wander off, no matter how mad I am, I walk downstairs to check on her. 

I find Tes curled up in a blanket in Nick’s lap on our “lawn couch.”  Her head is resting on his chest and I can tell he is talking quietly to her.  Although I want to walk outside and join them I stay inside and watch since they haven’t seen me yet.  Nick points up to the cedar tree that shades the backyard and I’m guessing he is pointing out a bird to Tessie.  Low and behold, she smiles!  They laugh and then she points to something above the house, maybe a plane or a cloud.  Her little arm curls around his neck and she grins her goofy grin so I can tell he said something silly.  The moment is so intimate and special that I almost feel like I’m spying on them.

Finally, they get up and Nick carries her back to the house.  I open the backdoor for them and am greeted by my once again happy girl.  As I pick her up for a hug I marvel at my husband who can make anything better, and feel lucky that I got to witness this beautiful moment between Daddy and Daughter.