bigbrotherintraining

Annabelle showing Avery what having a baby sister is like.

Avery is opening Mady's hand to put a toy in it, very gently.

Mady already showing an interest in older men (this one's for you, Scott I.)

Giving Mady a BIG smooch and I didn't even ask him to! (I love that she's leaning towards him)

It's too bad they don't like each other. More on personal space later.

My friends have done an excellent job helping these last few weeks of pregnancy go by with lots of evening play dates. I am VERY appreciative because sometimes 5-8pm is the longest stretch of time especially after a long day of work/contractions. We were graced by the Iten ladies this Wednesday and Avery got a great lesson about baby sisters from Annabelle when they weren't running around like crazy people.

Avery was just too sweet with baby Mady and it makes me so excited to see how he is with his own Sister. I feel confident that he's going to be a GREAT big brother and show his "difficulty" with the transition into a family of 4 in other ways, like being clingy around bedtime and waking up more frequently at night (these two things have already started to happen as I think he senses the momentous change that is about to occur in this house.)

In addition to a few lessons about babies (no, she can't grab the toy you're offering her, but you can gently open her fist and put your finger in there for her to hold), Avery and I also had a discussion about personal space. Annabelle enters the house and suddenly my reserved, calm child (he is currently playing puzzles on the floor) turns into a crazed lunatic. I guess he just loves her that much. He gets relatively aggressive in his desire to chase, hug, kiss or just be in contact with Annabelle, most of which she tolerates like a champ. Occasionally she has to tell him to back off, thus a conversation about personal space. I think that at this age it's pretty funny that I'm teaching my 2 year old to restrain himself when it comes to loving a friend rather than stopping him from hitting or other such typical toddler behavior.

Yes, I am ready for the team to be complete and to have all of the little siblings out and about in the world. So, Sister, when you're ready, there is an entire village waiting and a big brother who is going to love you as much as we do.