love for Daddy

As you all know, my husband was gone for months 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of Elliot's life. When Aaron came home, he was {understandably} disappointed and sad because Elliot seemed to want nothing to do with him. Sure, he would let Aaron hold him, but I was the one he really wanted. If he was hungry, fussy, sleepy, or scared, he only wanted mama. He screamed every time I left the room. It really crushed my husband, who claimed that Elliot "didn't like him," even though I knew that he did.
Recently, things have finally started to turn around. When Aaron comes home from work, Elliot's whole face lights up in a smile. Before he can even get his boots off, Elliot literally launches himself at him. He knows that there are certain things that he can only get away with when mama's not around, and he knows that Daddy is the one who "roughhouses" with him while playing. Elliot absolutely LOVES when his daddy throws him up in the air, spins him around, hangs him upside down by his feet, etc. It used to nearly give me a heart attack, but now I've gotten so used to it that I just sit back and watch Elliot squeal and laugh. Aaron is definitely WAY stronger than I am and he actually has hand-eye-coordination, while I pretty much don't. So, for that reason, I never try to do these things with Elliot, and he knows that Daddy is the one to go to if he wants to play like that.
Elliot is definitely still a mama's boy- he snuggles more with me, and I'm the only one who can put him to sleep. He still clings to me at times or cries randomly when I leave the room, but it's different now because it's obvious that he loves his Daddy, too- and Aaron knows that. It just makes me a little sad to think that Aaron will be deploying again not too long from now, and Elliot won't have anyone to swing him around or hold him by his ankles. Even worse- he's going to miss even more of baby #2's first year of life than he did with Elliot.
I've learned you can't dwell on those things, though. That's just military life. All you can do is treasure the time you do have together and {in my case} take lots and lots of pictures!