Big sister now.
Feb. 18th, 2009 02:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivkaMe: Alex, my computer friends want to know how you like being a big sister.
Alex: I really, really do!
Me: What's the best part of being the big sister?
Alex: When I get to wipe his butt and flush his diapers.
Several people have asked how Alex is adjusting to big sisterhood. The first day or two were rough, as she tried to cope with all the changes to her normal routine. Now she's doing beautifully.
She is very affectionate with Colin. "I want to stroke Colin goodnight," she says, running her fingers gently along his cheek or hair. "Good night, my dear little brother." She likes to give him things: a Valentine she made for him at school, a picture she drew, a construction-paper puppet. She checks on his whereabouts, comments with concern when he cries. "It's okay, Colin. Big sister's here."
She likes to include him. "Let's play Bartholomew and the Oobleck. You and me and Colin can be magicians, and Dad can be the king and Bartholomew." "You can be Papa Bear and I can be Mama Bear and Colin can be Baby Bear and Dad can be Goldilocks." She recognizes that Colin can't actually take a role, but she likes assigning him one anyway.
She likes to help. Diaper changes are her favorite - she likes to look on with horror at the messy ones, set up the clean diaper and wipes, get the alcohol pad ready for his cord care, drop the dirty diapers into the Diaper Champ. She wants to check his diaper all the time, and doesn't really understand why I won't let her do it while he's sleeping.
Last night I let her give him a bath - I held him, and she wielded the soap and washcloth. She did really well. I am less willing to let her help him nurse, although she frequently offers. (She wants to hold my breast for me. I am encouraging her to instead remind him to have a "big mouth" for latch-on.)
The only friction comes, understandably, from things I can't do when she wants me to do them. The biggest one is holding her on my lap to play a computer game with her, but of course there are a dozen times a day when she would like me to get her something or go somewhere and I am busy feeding the baby. With practice I am getting better at, for example, feeding him on the floor of the playroom while I take part in some sort of game. Fortunately I can usually pretend along with her while I'm in the rocking chair.
Incidentally, here's the picture I asked to keep, and was denied because it's for Colin. Can you tell what it is?
It's a lighthouse. That's the beacon on top, and the zigzag lines are all the stairs. Pretty cool, huh?
Alex: I really, really do!
Me: What's the best part of being the big sister?
Alex: When I get to wipe his butt and flush his diapers.
Several people have asked how Alex is adjusting to big sisterhood. The first day or two were rough, as she tried to cope with all the changes to her normal routine. Now she's doing beautifully.
She is very affectionate with Colin. "I want to stroke Colin goodnight," she says, running her fingers gently along his cheek or hair. "Good night, my dear little brother." She likes to give him things: a Valentine she made for him at school, a picture she drew, a construction-paper puppet. She checks on his whereabouts, comments with concern when he cries. "It's okay, Colin. Big sister's here."
She likes to include him. "Let's play Bartholomew and the Oobleck. You and me and Colin can be magicians, and Dad can be the king and Bartholomew." "You can be Papa Bear and I can be Mama Bear and Colin can be Baby Bear and Dad can be Goldilocks." She recognizes that Colin can't actually take a role, but she likes assigning him one anyway.
She likes to help. Diaper changes are her favorite - she likes to look on with horror at the messy ones, set up the clean diaper and wipes, get the alcohol pad ready for his cord care, drop the dirty diapers into the Diaper Champ. She wants to check his diaper all the time, and doesn't really understand why I won't let her do it while he's sleeping.
Last night I let her give him a bath - I held him, and she wielded the soap and washcloth. She did really well. I am less willing to let her help him nurse, although she frequently offers. (She wants to hold my breast for me. I am encouraging her to instead remind him to have a "big mouth" for latch-on.)
The only friction comes, understandably, from things I can't do when she wants me to do them. The biggest one is holding her on my lap to play a computer game with her, but of course there are a dozen times a day when she would like me to get her something or go somewhere and I am busy feeding the baby. With practice I am getting better at, for example, feeding him on the floor of the playroom while I take part in some sort of game. Fortunately I can usually pretend along with her while I'm in the rocking chair.
Incidentally, here's the picture I asked to keep, and was denied because it's for Colin. Can you tell what it is?
It's a lighthouse. That's the beacon on top, and the zigzag lines are all the stairs. Pretty cool, huh?
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no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 12:29 am (UTC)