Poor Allen! He is such a good Daddy but lately Samuel has been all about Mom. Allen is definitely starting to feel like a second-class citizen at home. During the day and early evening, Samuel will enthusiastically play with Allen and sometimes I even catch them snuggling on the couch watching Yo Gabba Gabba or reading books. Then the sun goes down and Samuel literally wants nothing to do with him. Mom rules the night.
He often fusses and yells through his bath (which Allen usually gives him) and through his pajama routine. While I am downstairs cleaning up I will hear him saying "Ma-ma, Ma-ma, I need Ma-ma," over and over again. Allen is a champ though and just powers right through his protests. He even reads him bedtime stories while he crabs. Once I get upstairs and ready to put Samuel to sleep he will ask Samuel for a hug and kiss and, most often, Samuel refuses. Allen just steals a kiss which Samuel wipes off. Then Allen heads for the door with Samuel following at his heels ready to slam it in his face.
If Samuel wakes up in the middle of the night sometimes Allen will go up and try to help him back to sleep. Usually this is an epic fail since Samuel will literally scream at the top of his lungs, stomp around his room and thrash about until I come up. It's hard on Allen to feel so helpless. He wants very much to be able to show Samuel affection and comfort. We are optimistic that with time Samuel's attitude will change.
They are so good together during the day! Samuel still shows a preference for me a lot of the time, but there are definitely times when he asks for his Dad and wants to be held by him. He also loves to roughhouse and get "loud" with Allen. In fact, when Allen is on alert or working at the squadron, Samuel will ask me about "Da-da" all day. If I talk to Allen on the phone he will fuss and squirm to get his hands on it so he can have a turn talking to him. I don't know what happens at night!
I'm glad that Allen is not discouraged by this stage since I know that as Samuel gets older they will have a very close relationship. I always remind Allen that in a couple years Mommy will be old news and Samuel will want his Dad all the time. I'll be the one feeling left out! In the meantime he is doing a great job being patient and waiting for his time to arrive.
