The Big Sister

As of late, the most frequently asked question to us after "How's Lincoln?" is, "How is Elaina adjusting to being a big sister?"

Let me tell you...

SO WELL!

More specifically, so far, so good. She has had a few episodes of bad behavior when it comes to sharing her beanbag chair and her mommy and daddy, but good otherwise. She gives Lincoln gentle kisses on his fuzzy, little head every morning and before bedtime. When she knows that he is sleeping in his pack 'n play downstairs, she'll tiptoe passed his bed with her finger pressed against her lips, whispering, "Baby. Seeping."

On two separate occasions, she has crept next to his bassinet and pat the covers on the foot of his bed and sang to him a little lullaby. It primarily consisted of the words, "Seepy night-night. Seepy. Seepy. (unrecognizable) Seepy. Night-night." The best part is that she came up with that all on her own. This was the attempt of a caring big sister to ensure that her baby brother had a good night. Of course, this just melted me and I wished I had my camera at that very instance.

Like I mentioned, we have run into a few snags when it comes to sharing. For instance, the other night, I was getting Elaina ready for bed and I temporarily placed Lincoln in her crib while she got all jammied up and we selected books to read. I had taken Lincoln in with me so that he could be a part of her story time too, like he had on one previous occasion. My mistake this time was that I thought that Lincoln could lay in her bed for even half a minute. Nope. The crying quickly ensued accompanied by the gush of crocodile tears while she shouted, "Get him out! My bed!" And to think that I was once thankful for the impressive verbal skills of this same child. I couldn't believe that she demanded that I "get him out!" With this I realized that I may have been testing her limits of sharing at a far too delicate time and with that we scooped Lincoln out of her bed and together, we placed him in his own bed. No story time for Lincoln this night.

In just two short weeks, Eric and I have gotten wise how to balance out the novelty of our larger family. We stopped making such a big deal about Lincoln/ the baby/ the little brother. To Elaina only that is. In the grand scheme of things, we just want Elaina to realize that Lincoln is a part of our family and we don't have to make a big deal out of having him with us. I want her to see him as a natural part of our family, such as it natural, for instance, that mommy has two arms. That's just the way it's supposed to be. And if we want to make it as such, we needed to take a step back from putting such an emphasis on "Lincoln this" or "Lincoln that." She seems to be doing much better with this approach.

Other than only a few snafoos along the way, Elaina seems to love her little "Winkin." That would be the almost 2 year-old pronunciation of his name. Elaina is quick to investigate him when he cries, she kisses his head as gentle as she is capable and she gets a kick out of Winkin having the hiccups and giggles at him when his eyes are open.

I'm pleased to see our little girl showing compassion and learning to share. I am excited that she has a sibling to share in her life and I'm thrilled to have the perfect little boy to be a part of it