Gramma brought Ellie by the hospital when Addie was just a day old. Ellie proudly walked into the room and handed me some flowers and said "Is for you, Mommy!" I gave her a big hug and said that I missed her and she went straight over to see her new baby.
Right away she asked if she could hold her new baby. When I say "her new baby," I mean it. That's what Ellie asked for - "Can I hold my new baby?"
You already saw one of my favorite pictures but these are absolutely adorable too. Ellie just adored looking at Addie and she gently touched all of Addie's facial features and even rubbed her nose with Addie's. Then she got serious and looked at me and said "Your tummy no have baby! You jump on bloons wif me and Brynnie?" She was so happy to hear that the answer is yes - next time we go to Bounce Town I get to play with her on the balloons. Then she gave Addie a kiss and said "I like my baby." We didn't stay in the hospital for very long and were home before Addie was even two days old (more to come on that). At home, Ellie's interest in the baby didn't fade.
So far she wants to do all sorts of things to help. She wants to watch us change Addie's diaper and put her to sleep. The schedule is all up in the air (if you want to call it a schedule at all) but so far we've been able to let Ellie be involved enough that she feels helpful and yet have enough time for Ellie alone that she still feels loved. Who knows how long that will last - when Addie starts to sleep less and less, I hope the schedule ends up lining up well!
A couple nights we've even been able to time things so that Addie can lay in bed with Ellie while we read her books. She loves this. In fact, the first night she told us that she wanted Addie to sleep with her all night. When we told her that Addie was too small to sleep in a big girl bed like Ellie's, she said "Maybe when she gets bigger?" 
So far so good. Ellie has been a little more fussy at bedtime than normal but that usually happens after spending a few days with the grandparents, but I don't think that the fussiness is because of Addie's presence. I think that Ellie is beginning to realize that our baby is here to stay, but so far she's so proud to be a big sister that she doesn't seem to mind. What she does mind is when we limit the amount of time she can spend with Addie. Not allowing Addie to sleep with Ellie all night was an example. Similarly, we told Ellie that Addie was too little to go to school with her, and we've had to tell Ellie a time or two that it's her bed time and thus the best way for her to help is to go to sleep. However, this weekend Ellie does get to take Addie to the farm - so she's excited about that.
Both Michael and I have commented multiple times since Addie was born how much older Ellie seems to be this week than she was last week. I swear, the little girl grew up in just the couple of days since Addie was born. It brings tears to my eyes whenever I see her acting so mature and knowing that Michael has noticed it too doesn't help. I'm so proud of my little girl.
5 comments:
I have to tell you, before I even finished reading your post all I could think was, "My goodness Ellie looks so grown up..." Then I got to the bottom and it made more sense. :)
I'm SO happy that Addie's arrival has been such a joy in Ellie's life. I think gets that from her parents. :)
Looks like you are off to a great start. =)
I remember those few weeks after O was born, G looked like a giant!
The picture above the video says it all. She looks enchanted by her little sister. So wonderful.
I agree with Iman- Ellie looks so much like a little girl this week. It's more than the events- there's something about her face that seems so much like a lovely little girl.
Both your girls are beautiful. Congratulations!
That experience of bringing home the baby and it changing your impression of your older child was something we experienced, too.
But I think it's may be a bit different with boys. I remember with #4, #3 went from being the one who needed protection (from his older brothers) to suddenly being the dangerous one. He went from being tiny to humongous.
Previously his wildness was something that couldn't harm his older brothers because he was so much smaller than them. But that same wildness (uncontrolled) could seriously hurt his baby brother.
It was weird.
Oh, I bet it was weird to look at a specific trait like that so differently with a new baby around!
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