Every week I get to pick my daughter, Ava, up from her mother's house and take her on a date. This is the highlight of my week for several reasons, but lately its because I get to watch her interact with the world around her, sometimes for the first time. In her explorations I get to be a witness of the new... all over again!This week we went to a park to start our time out, then we ate together at Chick-fil-a and then we took a long walk together. On this specific day Ava wanted me to watch from afar and she would constantly say, "hi daddy!" and expect a response like, "hi Ava!" We played this game a lot... I think it was her way of making sure I was watching her every move. She wanted me to be far enough for her to be independent, but close enough to hear my voice. Ava would climb up the stairs and say, "hi daddy!" and I would reply, "hi Ava!" and then she would go through the tunnel which led to the slide and she would say, "hi daddy!" and I would say, "hi Ava!" She would stand up and play with the steering wheel and say, "hi daddy!" and of course I would say, "hi Ava!" Then she would get ready to go down the slide and she'd say, "hi daddy!" and like the good listener I was becoming I would retort, "hi Ava!" then she would slide down and with a full smile and huge eyes beaming with joy say, "more, daddy, more, daddy!" and run to the stairs only to repeat the same exercise. I loved watching and participating in this beautiful medley of experience. When she was finished she simply said, "all done daddy, all done," and walk toward the Jeep. I took that as my cue to get up and follow. It was now time for "num nums daddy, num nums."
We then drove to Chick-fil-a to eat and play in their 3years and under play area. Ava ate all her chicken and most of her potato waffles and all of her juice and was ready to play. So with great anticipation and excitement we entered the play area and she was off! No more than two to three minutes into the play and I hear, "hi daddy!" and sure enough I respond with, "hi Ava!" and so it continues. As the play continues and the call and response goes on, more kids enter the play area and the voice of my daughter becomes faint. One, two, three, four, five, six and seven kids now fill this small area and begin to play loudly. Kids are yelling and screaming and sliding and climbing and parents are correcting, "Brittany, stop screaming!" and then another parent yells out, "Bobby, be nice to the other kids, stop making faces that scare the other kids." My eyes are quicker than before looking for Ava so that I can hear her voice cry out, "hi daddy!" But when I find her I notice that she isn't calling out to me anymore... she too is yelling, laughing, screaming, sliding, climbing and playing loud (now, originally I was going to make this blog about learning how to play, because that is something that I truly believe we need to learn how to do as we get older, but I changed my mind). Ava continued to have fun with the other kids and I would watch her so that if she called out, "hi daddy!" I could assure her that I was here. She never did!
Ava continued playing with the other kids and then something happened... she stopped playing and froze. Her feet stopped moving and I stared right at her in hopes that she would call out to me, but instead she started climbing down the stairs as others moved at a fast pace up. Her face wasn't one of pure fun and joy, but of focus and purpose. She made it all the way down and then caught my eyes and slowly cracked a smile. She put both feet on the floor and walked over to me and slowly turned around and moved into me backwards. I put my arms around her, picked her up and put her on my lap and said, "did you have fun Ava?" She looked at me and in a soft voice said, "hi daddy!" Everything inside me wanted to cry, but instead I smiled and said, "hi baby girl!"
As I drove home that evening I thought about this experience and just thanked God for always being there listening for me to call out, "hi daddy!" And then I just lost it and wept... Hi Daddy!
