Ian Ziering Can't Stop Gushing About His Girls - His Best Baby Stories

Dec. 10, 2013 — -- intro: Ian Ziering was recently named the inaugural "Daddy of The Year" for Daddy Scrubs and for good reason. Ziering — who has two daughters, 2-year-old Mia and 6-month-old Penna — told ABC News he tries to be one of the most involved and connected fathers around.

"It's so fun. Being a dad is the best role I've ever played, with all due respect to Steve Sanders," he said. "It really is the best thing ever."

Read: The Surprisingly Selfless Reason Ian Ziering Did 'Sharknado'

He wasn't kidding. During a 20-minute interview, the former "Beverly Hills 90210" star, 49, couldn't stop gushing about his adorable girls.

From Skype chatting with his older daughter Mia and sending her picture messages when he travels to watching his little one Penna grow up so fast, here's some of the best stories the "Sharknado" star shared with ABC.

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title: Happy Hanukkah!text: "[Mia] wanted a telescope for Hanukkah. I live in Hollywood, you really don't see stars. But on the first night of Hanukkah I took her to the observatory, where she was able to look at stars in the sky with the biggest telescope she's ever seen in her life, and learn about planets and stars, something she's learning in preschool right now."

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quicklist: 2title: Reading Time with Daddytext: "I'll read [Mia] a book every night. And sometimes I'll read her a book that doesn't even have any words. It has pictures but I make up my own story. Then when I stop talking, she has to continue with the story. That teaches her to employ her creativity."

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quicklist: 3title: They Grow Up So Fasttext:"I am noticing [Penna's] rise of will. Now when I play with her, she's interactive, she's engaging and if I look away from her little play area, she lets out a little whine, like 'Daddy, what are you doing! Look at me!'"

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title: Loving Sisterstext: "Mia is a very loving older sister. Initially she was very much, "Mine, mine, mine" with all her toys. But we taught her that's selfish. And now she shares her toys with her younger sister ... she wants to be a good girl and be considerate. That concept she's starting to understand ... It's just so great to be her dad and teach your children well."

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title: Daddy's Here!text: "We're not really sleeping too much ... Mia is now wanting to sleep in our bed. She wakes up crying in the middle of the night, she runs into our room and insists on sleeping with us ... I used to be afraid of whatever was living under my bed too. I'm telling her, 'Daddy's Here' and 'There's nothing to be afraid of.'"

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title: Bonus: Kudos to His Wife Erintext: Ziering didn't forget to say thanks to the mother of his children.

"I got to really hand it to my wife [Erin], she's the one getting up most nights," he gushed. "The lion's share of the workload goes to my wife."

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