My kids still like each other!

My little Froggie is 5 months old, and I am happy to report that his big sister still likes him!  To Daddy this is probably not suprising.  But I am astonished!  To explain my amazement I should probably back up about 6 or 7 months.  For most of the pregnancy, Emma was really sweet.  She rubbed my belly, talked to the baby, gave him a kiss goodnight every evening before bed, and made plans with us to take care of him.  However, during the last weeks of my pregnancy, Emma Cakes starting having some "issues" with the changes going on.  I believe most people call this regression.  Well, she regressed hard!  If I am being honest, around 8 months I became absolutely worthless.  Just a giant blob of chocolate and hormones.  This was not acceptable to my Cakes.  Her unhappiness was demonstrated mostly by several unfortunate "accidents.  I say accidents, but I am pretty sure peeing in the baby's moses basket was no accident!  The point is that she did not take the changes well, and Daddy and I were very nervous.  Fast forward to June 21.  When I left the house for the hospital that morning I was really worried about her.  I remember sneaking into her room at 5am and cuddling with her and not wanting to leave.  These were our last minutes alone together before a new baby come into our lives.  I cherished every second, but couldn't help but wonder, how would she react to the new baby.  Furthermore, we were running out of things in his nursery for her to pee on!

love at first sight!

But then a miracle happened.  My little man was born and it was love at first sight.  Emma arrived at the hospital to see her baby brother proudly wearing her "big sister" t shirt, and in an instant she was completely smitten.  I lost count of all the hugs and kisses, the complements, the smiles and laughs she gave him.  It was a complete love fest.  I can't even begin to describe it.

Emma's handiwork

After Froggie came home from the hospital, the love continued.  Although I think at first she saw him as toy, or maybe an interesting new pet.  In hindsight, maybe we shouldn't have let her play dress up with him so often!  Daddy and I were constantly reminding her that he is a little person not a toy.  But really, we were so happy to see her bonding with him that I dont think we cared if she saw him as a toy or some kind of hairless puppy.

Kisses!

A few months went by and our little man started at daycare.  Cakes introduced her baby brother to all her friends and teachers on a daily basis.  And if any of her friends got to close to him she became fiercely protective.  It was much like a toddler with their favorite toy.  At home things were going great.  If he cried, she ran to him.  If he needed a diaper or some milk, she helped.  I couldn't believe that she was still so excited for her baby brother.  Despite all the attention he took from her, she still liked him!

But...we had the first real test of her devotion over the Thanksgiving weekend.  We were driving back from a visit to my grandmother and we hit traffic.  Baby Froggie started to cry.  I leaned over the seat and gave him a pacifier.  He spit it out and kept crying.  I leaned back again and gave him some toys but he kept crying.  This went on for a while until he started his earsplitting, hyena cry.  Finally, Emma Cakes started to get upset.  She fidgeted, whined, and put her hands over her ears.  She shushed him repeated and begged him to stop crying.  We finally pulled over and I fed him.  After eating, he seemed happy and we thought all was well.  It wasn't.  He kept crying.  Poor Cakes was so unhappy.  Finally Daddy, who was now in the passenger seat, hopped into the back and figured out that the baby was cold.  Yes, just cold (I swear we are not first time parents!).  Daddy gave him a blanket and the crying stopped.  But poor Emma was not pleased by the ear spliting screams she had to endure for over an hour.  She seemed very upset about the whole ordeal.  Was this it for them?  Was the love fest over?

Nope!  As we were getting ready for bed that night Emma came over and rubbed his belly.  She said "he is not a toy, he is a little person."  I hugged her and told her what a good girl she is.  She smiled at me and said "I love this baby, Mama."  She spent a good part of the next day playing with him and trying to teach him how to crawl.

We have been celebrating 5 months of sibling bliss.  The love fest continues and as Grayson gets older it is starting to become a two way street.  The way he looks at her sometimes is too cute for words (baby love is adorable).  They are brother and sister, so I know the fighting will begin eventually.  But for now I get to sit back and enjoy the love.  That is, until he learns how to take her stuff, then we are in for some drama!