Little Siblings

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Sunday, October 22, 2006

K asked last week how Nora was doing with Emmitt and how the whole "patience" thing was going.

So far...so good. Check it out:

From October 10th

I've actually been pretty surprised at how well she's done. I mentioned that I think it helped that we had Emmitt at home and her schedule wasn't interrupted. I also think that it helps that she's a girl. Girls seem to have a natural affinity for babies and for helping, so I think they meld into the "older sibling/helper" role a little easier than boys sometimes do.

She LOVES to help...she'll go get diapers for me, throw them away when I change his diaper...she brings him toys if he cries... In fact, she's started trying to help me burp him as well. I'll put him on my shoulder to burp him and she climbs into my lap to help pat him on the back. She even alternates between patting (gently) and rubbing, lol. The only thing we've had a problem with so far is the bouncy chair. She DESPERATELY wants to help bounce him but she just doesn't know her own strength...I spend a lot of time saying "GENTLE! Nora, GENTLE!" ;)

She's even willing to share... here's her trying to let him play with the mini-pumpkin that she got at the farmer's market last week...

From 10-18-06

We'll see though...I fully expect that there will come a day where I'll enter the room and she'll be bashing him in the head with something...just hoping that doesn't happen for a few more years.

I think the other thing that I have working for me is that Nora has always been pretty independant. Since she grew up with me working from home, she's ALWAYS had to be patient or wait a few moments for attention. She rarely got it immediately and she's never had my undivided attention all day. Thus, at an early age she learned to play by herself for 20 or 30 minutes at a stretch. Add in a few PBS Kids shows and I find I have a pretty easy time keeping her occupied while I nurse Emmit. If she's not in a playing mood, I simply have her snag a book and sit next to me while I nurse him and she flips the pages while I read.

As to what she thinks of nursing? It's funny...the first few days, she was confused. She'd point at Emmitt and point at my breast and look at me, sort of like "what's he doin' mom?" I'd simply say "Emmitt is eating, this is where Emmitt's milk is." After a day or so, she'd come over and point and then point at her sippy of milk. I'd say "Yes, that's Nora's milk, this is Emmitt's milk."

Now if he gets fussy, or she sees me getting ready to nurse him she points at my chest and says "Nummy, nummy, nummy" while pointing at Emmitt. LOL.

Labels: All About the Kids

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