Meeting little sis

I was so excited for this moment to have finally arrived. As I waited for my mom to bring Grace upstairs I started to get nervous about the big meeting and what would happen. I knew G was aware that a new baby was coming, but I don't know how in touch with the "sharing mommy" factor she was.

 

I paced the room, set out her gift from Charlie, and put the baby in her hospital bassinet so that I'd have my arms free to squeeze my girl for the first time since Sunday morning when I'd left the house.

 

She came in and ran up to me. I picked her up and took her over to see the baby. She acted semi-interested, but was more happy to see me than interact with her little sister. She thought the baby was, "SO toot!" --and still does, but quickly changed the subject to asking if I'd come home with her. 

 



 

 

She grabbed my hand to try and walk me towards the door to leave and I tried to unsuccessfully hold back tears. All she wanted was her momma to come home, but I had another night that I would have to stay in the hospital and her lack of interest in the baby (at first) combined with my lack of sleep made me an emotional mess. Luckily we settled down, opened her present, and were able to even get a picture of all of us together.

 

 

 

Once she was distracted with her new baby, she seemed to warm up to the real one in the room. We decided to take a walk around the floor and Grace was thrilled to push Charlie down the hall and show her off. She got graham crackers and juice from the snack area across from my room and the hospital started to become a cooler place. ;)

 

 

She and my mom got dinner from the cafeteria and brought it up to eat with me before they went home for the night. I was preparing for a meltdown, but she did just fine and seemed pretty satisfied with the promise of getting to push the elevator buttons when they were leaving. Ha. Here's a pretty sweet video of before they left...

 

 

Now that we are home and settled I am happy to report that Grace has become a wonderful big sis. She is never anything but sweet towards Charlie, and seemed to just be nervous around her the first few days. At this point (6+ weeks later), I just have to remind her to be gentle when she tickles her or touches her hair or little feet. She still thinks her baby sister is SO cute and asks where she is first thing in the morning when she wakes up and first thing in the afternoon when she gets picked up from school. I guess babies aren't very threatening when they are too little to share your toys. I'm sure that will come in due time. ;)

 

xo,

H