This little girl just couldn’t wait another second to hug her dad! After being apart for over eight months, two-year-old Karis Oglesby spotted her father, 1st Lt. Daniel Oglesby, in formation during a homecoming ceremony in Colorado this past Tuesday and dashed straight towards him.

The touching moment was captured on video, showing Karis running across the gymnasium in her sparkling gold boots and a charming red, white, and blue outfit. When she reached her dad, he bent down to hug her tightly before gently sending her back to her seat.

“I wasn’t worried about maintaining the integrity of the formation,” said 1st Lt. Oglesby, who had recently returned from Kuwait. “The homecoming ceremony is all about our families who’ve had to sacrifice eight, almost nine, months without their loved ones. I was so happy to see my awesome little girl.”

Oglesby shared that his daughter’s spontaneous run was “a pleasant surprise.”

“I had left in February, and we were close, but I wasn’t sure how much she would remember me and what her reaction would be when I came back,” he explained. “I was so happy that she was excited to see me — so excited that she couldn’t even wait for the quick ceremony to be over first.”

The joyful father, age 33, mentioned that he returned just in time for Karis’ birthday, which is tomorrow when she will turn three.

“If you thought she was excited to see me, just wait until we go to Chuck E. Cheese or the North Pole tomorrow,” he said. The North Pole is a local amusement park in Colorado Springs.

1st Lt. Oglesby also has a four-year-old daughter named Layla and mentioned that his girls and their mom “are going to be the bosses around here” for the next few weeks.

“Whatever I can do to make up for the lost time, I’ll do,” he added. “Whatever they want, I’ll get it for them.”