Z loves his Daddy. He especially likes their "lambingan" time where they tickle each other and kiss each other's belly button. I do not know how we started with this but when his Dad says belly button and started going for Z's, my son would automatically dissolve into fits of laughter and hide his bellybutton. Same also with "gigi" which is our baby talk for armpits. Z loves their lambingan so much that when S is busy in front of the computer he would call his Dad to bed and ask for lambingan time.
When his dad is at the office, Z misses him. One day, while Z was at the computer, there was this online story for kids about two siblings waiting for their daddy to come home. Z particularly liked it and would repeat it over and over, I suspect because he can relate to it. So I decided to make up a bedtime story and borrowed that concept and replaced the characters with people from our apartment that Z knew. It goes something like this:
"There is a kid who's daddy is at the office. He misses his daddy so much so he would wait by the window for his daddy. "When will my daddy come home," the kid said. Suddenly, a tricycle stopped by their window. The kid jumped up and down with joy and said, "There is my daddy, there is my daddy!" But unfortunately, it was a woman who came down the tricycle. The kid sighed and said again, "When will my daddy come home?"
I would repeat that story substituting the tricycle with different modes of transportation and one by one our neighbors will come home, except for his daddy. Z has already memorized the story that he finishes the sentence for me. I would end the story by his daddy coming home with his favorite pasalubong (donuts) and off they will go with their lambingan time. Every night before we go to bed Z would request for his favorite story.
I love how S bonds with our son, and I appreciate it because I know not all fathers are like that. I hope they can nurture their bond even as Z grows up to be a man.