Yes, that's what I was getting at...it's just kinda uncomfortable to witness...for many of us Boomers who were reared in the Donna Reed / Leave It To Beaver era.
Perhaps a big squeeze...you could wrap your arm around the kid's head and "squeeze his head" (something I've always done with kids and boys up to early-teens)...Just squeeze his head and say something like "You're one real pilliwinks turkey tootle-oooh, aren't you."
Somethin' disarmingly, yet affectionately and lovingly SILLY, yet entirely permissible among mid-20th Century dads+sons.