At this stage of my life, I am constantly learning from my daughter, how you may ask? She’s just five months, true, but at that age, she already got to know my character, feels what mood I am in and communicate with me with just a look. Today I will be sharing with you my current relationship I have built with my 5-month old daughter 😊
I work a typical 9 to 5 job and I don’t see my daughter throughout the day in weekdays, but every morning and evening when I am there, are one of the best moments that I cannot explain. Currently our daughter is still sleeping with us (I know we spoil her, but at the moment it’s too cold for her to sleep on her own in a baby cot) so Sophia wakes up around 7am and yes you guessed she is my alarm clock 😂 No, she doesn’t cry, but she does something funnier than that she starts by quarrelling with herself as if shes trying to sort out an issue if she wants her nappy changed now or later 🤣 At that time my wife and I just try to ignore her and have some more sleep, does it work? No. As her second attempt to wake us up is cute, but not good for both my wife and I as we are both not morning people, so what she does is start poking us and says “Arruu ahh, arrruuu ahhh” and pokes me and if I’m unlucky which I am most of the time she pokes me in the eye or her whole finger ends up in my nose 😒 Obviously after that I will definitely wake up and when I open my eyes I see one big winning good morning smile and trust me its difficult to be mad at that ❤ After that she wakes up mummy, but mummy is a bit more difficult to wake up, so when I wake up I play with her for a bit and I usually go change her nappy and you can imagine the amount of energy she has compared to mine (I hope she will also not be a morning person, as from what I see at the moment she looks more like a morning person 😐)
I woke up and leave Sophia on her bouncer to watch some nursery rhymes until I prepare breakfast, then before I leave to work is the toughest as Sophia looks at me like “Daddy, where are you going stay with me and play with my colourful keys, which I occasionally hit you with?” Yes, that’s what I think she says, but anyway her look is a bit tough to look at, but obviously I will be looking forward to when I arrive back at home.
It’s 18:00 and I open the door and when Sophia sees me, as she is mostly awake at that time, she greets me with a smile and trusts me its a contagious smile, not to smile back 😁 As she knows now its Daddy Time!! The time I spend with my daughter is fun as I make sure that she is enjoying my time with me, but also develop her skills of listening and recognizing my tone of voice and facial expressions.
Daddy time is basically a mix of me talking with her on what she did with mummy throughout the day, repeating “Dada” over and over again as I hope she says dada first rather than mama, but my wife has more of an advantage as shes spending more time with her, but I am persistent and positive 😂 Then we do some peek a boo, which she loves, but I do it with a sheet over her head and play along for 10 minutes, the fun thing about is that every time I do it she smiles so I guess she enjoys it, I hope she does and not just smile to make me feel good about myself 😆
What she definitely loves is the supergirl and when I lift her up over my head as if she’s flying, yes most of the time I end up with her spit coming onto my face as she opens her mouth to smile and loads of spit drool down haha
Overall whatever she does, if she’s playing with her rattle, fart, babble or does something new she always looks at me for my approval, which is amazing as she is already feeling safe and comfortable with me ❤
We try to put Sophia to sleep after 8 pm as she starts getting cranky and we want to make sure that we stick to a time so she knows its sleeping time now, so what we do my wife feeds her and I usually always go to bed around 8:30 and when she’s trying to sleep and hears my voice, she gets energized wakes up and looks at me so I can play with her… Obviously I give in and start smiling and play, but then one look from my wife and boom we both stop 😂
Wisdadm: To start creating a bond, what you can do is:
- Give her baths yourself with the help of your wife and make baths fun
- Feed her, if shes breastfed, no worries wait for her to start eating food at 5 months and start actually feeding her
- Talk to your child, even if she doesn’t know what you’re saying, look on the bright side she won’t interrupt you 😂
- Show her different facial expressions as she will try to mimic them
We as fathers are pillars for our child’s development and it is important for us to be there in the initial stages, be it for security and emotional support that will end up building an everlasting bond, so dads don’t wait for your wife to ask you to play with your child/ren, be proactive and be the one who encourages their child to spend time, not only with you but with the whole family 😉
