Sibling Sweetness

We've definitely been through our share of challenges already. Honestly, the first month was really, really rough! A couple of weeks ago, Noah was awake for 2.5 hours; he was following me as I changed the baby, hanging on my leg as I tried to bounce the baby, demanding that I lay down with him and to put the baby down. Other nights, he has woken twice, and on a good night, he wakes once at around 5 am. Almost every day, he told me, "Mama, I don't want you to hold the baby," usually with a scrunched up face and whiny cry. I followed the advice of several books saying we should validate these emotions. I told him, "I understand. It's hard to see me hold the baby so much. You want me to hold you. I used to only hold you," etc. Then, I got tired of hearing his complaint. And, I told him -- I said, "Noah, I understand. But, I'm tired of hearing you say that." He hasn't said it again since (it's been a few days I think).

Suddenly, Noah has become our helper. Two nights ago, I was giving Simon a bath, and I asked Noah for help getting the tub ready for me. Then, he helped put soap on Simon, and rinse him. Yesterday morning, he wanted to help put diaper cream on the baby. Then, I asked if he would help by holding him while I put my wrap carrier on (takes a couple of minutes, usually accompanied by a crying baby placed on an inanimate object). He was happy to sit on the couch, with Simon propped against him, and smiled a large grin. It was so sweet to see the two of them together, and content!



That morning I drove him to Tiffany's house, and Simon spent the entire trip crying. At one point, I heard Noah spontaneously trying to help by shushing him from his seat, "Pshhh! Pshh!" I couldn't help but smile. Then, at her house, he came up and stroked Simon's head, and was proud to show him off to his buddy Scarlett. When Scarlett approached the carseat, Noah got very protective, and said, "No, Scarlett, that's Mama's!" She said, "No it's not; it's Baby Simon's!" Noah retorted, "No, it's Mama's!" Then, she thought for a minute and replied, "But Mama doesn't stay there." Love these toddler conversations!