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It takes a special kind of person to share a house with two feisty redheaded girls.  Between my mood swings and Madeline's extreme toddler-ness, Eric is constantly kept on his toes.  Yet, in spite of the challenges we continuously throw at him, he manages to remain patient and understanding.  This is an especially difficult task considering that Madeline recently decided to completely reject all things Dada.

Madeline has always been a bit of a Mumma's girl.  When she's sick, tired, or just needs a cuddle, I'm her chosen person.  This is mostly a privilege I enjoy.  Who wouldn't want to be showered with pudgy, toddler lovin'?   Still, this also means that I'm the one she asks to change her diapers, or stay up with her in the middle of the night.  I don't pee alone very often these days.  She's a total ankle biter.  

While she doesn't display as much neediness in her affections toward Eric, she obviously loves her Dada too.  After all, he's the fun one who gets down on the floor to play Little People princesses with her every afternoon.

Therefore, the fact that she's become slightly hostile toward Eric over the past month, has been a bit of a mystery.

At first, Madeline wouldn't let him get her out of bed on the mornings he'd try to let me sleep in.  Instead, she'd opt to stay under the covers, singing at the top of her lungs, until I woke up to fetch her.  She's a creature of habit, and since I'm usually the one to get her up, we figured it had something to due with her wanting to stick to the normal routine.

Then, a few days before we left for Florida, Madeline told me, "I love just Mumma, not Dada."   Ouch.  This is a sentiment she has repeated to us both on several occasions no matter how much I praise Eric's amazing fathering capabilities.

This past week, she's told Eric to leave the room a few times.  She's pushed him away when he tries to pick her up. When she spotted him giving me a hug, she rushed over, wedged herself between us, and said, "Go away, Dada! My Mumma!"  Ouch.  Ouch. And Ouch.

Poor guy.  If Madeline were directing these feelings toward me,  I'd be on the floor crying and beating my fists in an epic display of sorrow.  It would be complete and utter devastation.  As it is,  Madeline's actions clearly bother Eric, but he hasn't collapsed into a puddle of self-pity...yet.

In an attempt to remedy this odd phase,  we've been building Eric up a lot.  He changes her diaper instead of me.  If she wants juice, he'll go get it.  He sat with us during bedtime this week and held her hand as she listened to stories.  I've been giving him more kisses and cuddles when she's around.

Eric took her out for a Dada-daughter play-date today.  I was worried she wouldn't want to go without me, but she was very excited to wave goodbye as she skipped out the door with Eric this morning.  He brought her to a local children's museum followed by lunch.  

It's a little early to tell, but it seems like operation: Love Your Dada is working.  This afternoon she was asking him to read to her instead of me, and she ran to him for a hug before bed.  Things seemed back to normal.  

I don't know what's caused this reaction.  Maybe she's feeling neglected by me, and wants more of my attention.  Maybe it's because Eric usually plays bad cop when it comes to things like taking her pacifier away.  Maybe it's because she's had a cold off and on since the middle of March.  Who knows?

Whatever the reason, I suspect it has something to do with her age and that she'll spread the love more evenly as she becomes more independent.  And someday, when she's a teenage redhead, she will most assuredly not like me more than Eric.

Prepare for epic pools of self-pity and sorrow coming from my direction in about thirteen years.