A little girls eyes light up as she receives a special doll of her U.S. Navy dad to comfort her while he is deployed – and reacts by kissing and hugging it tightly.
Adorable 19-month-old Natalie Helsel misses dad Richard so much, one day when mom Katie was clearing out a cupboard, Natalie saw one of Richard’s uniforms and grabbed it for cuddles.
Knowing her daughter identifies Richard with his uniform, Katie wanted to surprise her with a Daddy Doll to comfort her while he was overseas.
In the heartwarming footage, Katie gives Natalie an early Christmas present and as she starts pulling the packaging out the box she sees the doll resting at the bottom and picks it out.
©T&T Creative Media 
©T&T Creative Media
Katie turns it around showing her daughter the image printed on the front stopping Natalie in her tracks as she says ‘dada’ before pointing at the doll and letting out a cute giggle.
When she tells Natalie to give him a hug, Natalie squeezes the doll tightly against her face before lovingly looking back at Richard’s image and then kissing it and giving it more hugs.
-Scroll down to see adorable video below-
Katie, from Jacksonville, Florida, said: “Natalie identifies her dad with his uniform, they have the strongest bond – she is such a daddy’s girl.
“A few days after he left we had just hung up the phone from FaceTiming and she would just cry and shake the phone. She had a very rough start but seems to be adjusting well now.
©T&T Creative Media 
©T&T Creative Media
“She loves stuffed animals and dolls so I figured what better gift than one with her daddy on it.
“I knew she would love it but I was totally not expecting that – she clearly misses her daddy from her reaction.
“She sleeps with it every night and carries it around all day, he also has to go with us in the car.”
The sweet moment was caught on video on December 15. Richard left for deployment to Japan in October and will be home in April.
Story courtesy of T&T Creative Media.