Deployment...UGH!!

[Callie]

So its confirmed, dh will be deploying in Oct. I'm so incredibly nervous because this is our first deployment with kids. Ava will be 2 and a half and I will have a newborn. I'm not as worried about the baby as I am for Ava.Not only will she be getting used to daddy being gone, but also a new baby.
How did your children react to deployment at this age? What are some tips and ideas to make the deployment transition a little bit smoother. And what did you do to keep your child occupied while daddy was gone?
Thanks ladies.

[*Realized*]

Bailey isnt as old as Ava but she is doing ok. She still asks for daddy but I tell her daddy had to go to work. Now she says Daddy go bye. We had a couple days where I thought she was crabbier than usual but now she is fine. I dont know if she will remember him or not but i show her pics every day.

[Midge.T]

Charlotte reacted like Bailey. She asked for her Daddy daily for what seemed forever. Eventually she'd start to say Daddy's at work or I'll see Daddy soon. It's hard to convey this sort of thing because they don't have that concept of what 6 months or a year actually means.

I've been showing Charlotte photos and vids and telling her that Daddy loves her every day and she's excited for him to come back.

The really hard part is that Charlotte seems to have this fear of me leaving her ever since Mike got in that car and drove to base only not to come home. She's ultra attached to me, despite my best efforts to let her know that I'll always be here.