I have to start off by saying that just by typing the title of this post I have to hold back a few tears. For 2 and 3/4 years Lily has been my world and has been the focus of most of my attention. I am so excited to have another child and I know Lily is as well, but I can’t help feeling a little sad at the change in the family dynamics. So far Lily doesn’t seem jealous or sad about the new baby but I just hope that she still knows how much we love her. I hope she doesn’t feel left out in any way or sad at the change in our attention. We love her so dearly and hope that we can continue to give her the attention she needs and make her feel just as special as she always has.
This past week we welcomed little brother Miles Jamison into the family. It was a wonderful experience and one that was highly anticipated by Lily. Over the past 3 months Lily has had 3 friends get their own “new babies” and she has been waiting and waiting for her own. I am grateful that she was able to watch her friends and get some kind of idea of what was coming. I feel she was definitely prepared and excited. She would come in to my room in the mornings and talk to the baby. Closer to the due date she would say “Baby, come out!” to my stomach. So when the baby finally came it was such an easy transition for her. One thing that threw her for a loop, however was the gender. We did not find out the sex of the baby before hand and the entire time Lily kept saying she wanted to have a sister. I don’t really know if she knew the difference between the two, but a sister is what she wanted. She is very much in love with her little brother but it took her a few days to start referring to him as “him” or her brother instead of saying “she” or sister. At the hospital she took to her little brother, Miles, right away. She wanted to hold him for short periods of time and was tickled pink every time he would yawn or make a noise. She has been the biggest help now that we are at home. She loves to pay attention to her little brother and let us know if he is moving or fussing at all. It just melts my heart when Miles will be crying and she’ll tell him “It’s ok, buddy. I’m here. Stay calm.” She wants to hold him all the time and likes to help get things for him, as well as watch him get his diaper changed. She doesn’t seem to be jealous of him yet and we have been trying to give her as much attention as possible and let her sit with us whenever she can. I give her lots of hugs and have her near by as much as possible so she knows I want to give her affection too. The only thing she has been a little competitive about is the baby furniture. She is always trying to get into the bassinet or sitting in the baby rocking chair. She’ll remind me that they are for baby Lily and I have to coax her out so I can put the baby in them. Hopefully that will be the bulk of the jealousy issue, but we’ll just have to see how that goes.
Lily definitely has her opinion about things and knows exactly everything about the baby! Clark wants to call him MJ and tells Lil that, but Lil says “He’s not MJ, he’s Miles!” I called Miles Buddy Boy the other day and she told me “Not buddy boy, just buddy!” I love that she seems nice and protective of him. Today in church I let someone else hold Miles during choir practice so I could hold my binder. When Lily noticed she came over and grabbed my binder off my lap and closed it. She then told the lady holding Miles “That’s mommy’s baby!” and wouldn’t stop until she gave him back to me :). She wanted to make sure that no one else took him and that he stayed with mommy! I can’t wait to see how she grows from having a little sibling and how her love for him expands. I am grateful for the opportunity to care for my babies and experience the greatest love of all through them. They are both so precious to us!
