When Clio came home from the playground after day care yesterday, she was so thrilled to see me that I almost cried. (There's really nothing like the love of a 2-year-old, is there?). She came into the house and gave me a huge hug before laying eyes on the baby.
The moment of truth.
Eleri was in the car seat in the middle of the living room, sleeping. Clio went right over and looked at her, and said, "there's my baby brother. He's sleeping." (We're working on the "sister" thing, and Clio has been working out the pronoun problem in general lately). She touched Eleri's hat and helped put a blanket over her and Dave said "gentle!" a hundred thousand times.
While Clio had a snack, she told us all about her baby brother-sister, how cute, how tiny, and we breathed a sigh of relief.
This morning, same story: Clio came down for breakfast and Eleri was asleep in the car seat. Clio was again nonchalant, and we sat and ate breakfast together. Until the baby started to cry. It's lucky that the baby part is so much easier the second time: I was able to pick her up and get her nursing with one arm while standing over Clio helping her with her breakfast.
And we had what may be the real Moment of Truth:
Clio took one look at this new scenario, pointed at the car seat, and sort of whimpered, "put her back." I explained that she was eating breakfast too, that babies drink special milk their mommy's make, and Clio said "you're MY mommy," and didn't seem to like me telling her that I am Eleri's mommy, too.
After breakfast, Clio spent some time trying to get into the car seat, and ultimately settled for putting her own baby in there.
She did wear her Big Sister shirt today, wanted to help with Eleri's diaper, and ultimately didn't want to leave for Day Care until she had "fed" Eleri some "peas." So I'd say we're off to an auspicious start, all things considered. I'm glad to have a day or two to transition, and it will be interesting to see what this weekend brings. (While I say that the baby part is easier, this simply comes from the knowledge of having done it before. If we could isolate just that part, it might be a piece of cake. Unfortunately, I'm sure the new terrain called "parents of two children" is highly complicated. Any special advice from the pros is welcome.)
I'll say this much: I've heard all the cliches about worrying whether there will be enough love to go around, but I think having another baby has made me love Clio double. Or triple. My heart goes out to her as her world changes, but I look forward to all the funny, wonderful things she will do and say as a sibling and important member of our expanded family.
2 comments:
clio is off to a great start, indeed. i'm sure she'll be a fantastic big sister.
The great thing about 2 year olds (as we've surely all observed) is their often gnat-like attention span and astonishing distractibility and adaptability. In no time Clio will have adjusted and be unable to recall her life before Eleri, any more than she can recall why she was so upset (excited, mad, delighted, hysterical... whatever) about anything. Yes, this is a big change for her, but in the whole scheme of things she has not been around long enough in this world to really get used to any one state of being. The way it is now will be the way it is for her.
Congratulations, Clio! You are a big sister now, but you are still mom & dad's one and only 2 year old!
Post a Comment