Well baby #2 is due to arrive in a few weeks and I can’t help but feel a bit anxious. Our family will grow by one and I will have two children under one and half years of age! I must say I am fortunate that Ziya is quite independent and she is capable of entertaining herself without having me play with her ALL THE TIME…although that may change once the new baby arrives, for now I am crossing my fingers. The biggest question that has been plaguing me, is how will she take to the new baby?? I know EVERY mother has or will question this thought over and over in her mind and it will never go away until the day finally arrives and you see how it all plays out. I am sure like me, you have heard that you should give a gift to your older child and say it is from their new baby brother or sister and that is to help them take a liking to the newborn right off the get go. I have also heard that when your eldest child comes to see you in the hospital that you should not hold the new baby as that can cause immediate feelings of jealousy, so hands free of baby when they are due to visit. There are so many things to worry about aside from just giving birth that when it all does play out in real time will you actually remember all of those things you aren’t supposed to do?!
So Ziya has noticed that my belly has grown quite a bit and of course I tell her there is a baby inside. How much of that she actually understands at a year is unknown, but she seems to get it. Its even better that she has taken quite a liking to the idea of a baby and when she see’s me without a shirt, she will quickly approach me, poke my protruding belly button, giggle – cause of course she thinks its the funniest thing ever – then proceed to caress my tummy and in the most cutest voice say baby followed by the most adorable little smile. I mean if that doesn’t truly melt your heart, I am not sure what does. Pulling at these heartstrings is emotional on a pregnant mama, wouldn’t you agree?!
It has been such a fun process having her watch me grow and her adoring her soon to be baby brother or sister. The whole experience thus far has been really fun and as far as I can tell, she is going to love being a big sister, one who is loving and nurturing. She has two younger cousin sisters and she just adores them, she is always trying to give them their pacifiers when they are just lying there and always wants to be sitting next to them and will just calmly watch them, just like their little protector. I am likely bias in saying this, but she truly is just so loving and nurturing by nature that I cannot imagine her to be spiteful towards her younger sibling in any way – although I am sure with time that will all change. With only a couple more months to go, I’m making every effort to enjoy that one on one time with her because these last months will just be over in a flash and to me this is truly bittersweet. I feel like a year isn’t long enough to enjoy the one child but at the same time it is great to have siblings close in age to grow up with. I already feel like it has gone by too quickly and with another one on the way, time will only go that much faster not to mention with the terrible twos just around the corner, and an age gap of +/-16 months, this could be my calm before the storm, so I gotta take it all in now and woosa later!
In the end my duty as a mother is to ensure that I don’t neglect either one of them as I would hate to have my daughter feel neglected in any way or feel like she doesn’t have my fullest attention. Even though I am not there yet to know, I can only hope that I am able to direct my attention to both of them as fairly as possible. but as you know you are only one person with two hands and like many of you can relate, one kid already challenges that so adding another one in the mix, well… The nice thing is that newborns sleep a lot, so while she adjusts to the idea of having someone new at home, I will still be able to give her most of my attention even though that attention may be in a groggy state. LOL In the end no matter how much I may think about how my daughter will adjust to her new sibling and I sit here and eagerly wait to be a mama of two, all I can do is try my best to make the transition as easy for her as possible and hopefully she will share her love with him/her like she does for us. I have a strong feeling that the way she has been handling the whole baby in tummy and her behaviour with other babes, I am sure she will love her little baby brother or sister to bits and this worry of mine will be something of the past.
It has been such a fun process having her watch me grow and her adoring her soon to be baby brother or sister. The whole experience thus far has been really fun and as far as I can tell, she is going to love being a big sister, one who is loving and nurturing. She has two younger cousin sisters and she just adores them, she is always trying to give them their pacifiers when they are just lying there and always wants to be sitting next to them and will just calmly watch them, just like their little protector. I am likely bias in saying this, but she truly is just so loving and nurturing by nature that I cannot imagine her to be spiteful towards her younger sibling in any way – although I am sure with time that will all change. With only a couple more months to go, I’m making every effort to enjoy that one on one time with her because these last months will just be over in a flash and to me this is truly bittersweet. I feel like a year isn’t long enough to enjoy the one child but at the same time it is great to have siblings close in age to grow up with. I already feel like it has gone by too quickly and with another one on the way, time will only go that much faster not to mention with the terrible twos just around the corner, and an age gap of +/-16 months, this could be my calm before the storm, so I gotta take it all in now and woosa later!