My Daughter

This past weekend my daughter officially became nine months old. She has now been out of the womb as long as she was in it.

Compared to my son I haven't written about her all that much. In part that has been due to her age. For a long time there wasn't much to say about her other than normal baby development stuff.

But for a while now she has really been making tremendous strides in showing her personality and interacting with the world around her.

Long time friends of mine have said for years that they couldn't wait to see what happened if I had a daughter. They giggled and laughed about it, come to think of it most of the people who made such comments are female. What is it that they think they see.

I suspect that it is case of Daddy's girl and I must confess that I can see that happening. When I walk into the room she gives me a huge smile and rocks back and forth to get my attention. She loves to sit in my lap and pull on my nose, or ears or mouth. She studies me so intently, I wonder what she is thinking.

We laugh and play and I read her stories and tell her that her daddy will always be here for her. When the little boys stare at her I glare at them. I have to practice for when she is older. It is one of the reasons that I work out so hard, when she begins dating I need to be big enough in my 50s to intimidate the young men that come calling upon her.

I remember going on a date many years ago in which my date's father took me aside for a little conversation about how I was to treat his daughter. He looked at me and explained that he wanted her to be treated with respect and dignity. I agreed, didn't argue at all and then he told me that he once was a boy and knew how boys think and that for that reason I couldn't bullshit him.

I said that I wasn't trying to and he said that if I meant that I would always stare at her eyes and not other parts of her body. I can remember wondering at the time if I had been so obvious, or if he was just guessing, but I didn't argue with him.

And now I can see myself saying something similar on my own daughter's behalf.

I saw her early this morning, around 4:30 am so I got a chance to give her a hug and a kiss before I left for work. As she went back to sleep I couldn't help but stare at her and smile.

She is so busy trying to learn how to walk now. I know that it won't be long and I know that it won't be long until she can speak. I am looking forward to sharing special time with her as I have done with my son.

What can I say, I am in love with my daughter. She is so special to me.