Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Big Brother and Big Sister

Adam and Eleanor now have a baby brother named Ethan, making them a big brother/sister. The twins are quite excited to have Ethan here, but have taken a decidedly different opinion of the whole situation. During my pregnancy, Adam was the one who would always look at me, say, "baby brother" and then follow it up with a "whop, whop" to the belly. When he first saw Ethan in the hospital, he must have given him ten kisses in a row. Now Adam is the one to remind us (as if we need reminding) that, "Ethan's crying", or "Ethan too loud". Eleanor, I think, was under the impression that Ethan was going to arrive a lot more fun than he is. To Eleanor, he just sits there and takes my attention away from her. The other day when my brother-in-law and sister-in-law cam eover to meet Ethan, Eleanor brought out a stool and kept saying, "Let me show you what I can do," jumping off of it over and over. Then she thought she would outshine Ethan by spelling her name and various other words with the letter magnets on the fridge. She may as well have screamed, "HEY!! Will you look at me already?!? That kid just cries and eats--totally BORING!" She still likes to give him kisses at night and pick out his next outfit (and those of you who know me understand that's no mean feat). Alex, of course, has been thrilled with the little guy and a big help. He's gone to camp for three nights this week and I truly don't know what I'll do without him. What a great kid.

And now to show you our new (not so) little arrival, Ethan. He was 8 pounds 4 ounces at birth and already weighs just about 10 pounds at 3 weeks. I am a much more relaxed, calm mommy this time around. I suppose the lack of oxygen tanks and apnea monitors will do that. Every couple days I stare at him and get tears in my eyes, though--for the newborn days that Adam and Eleanor never really had and for all the needle pokes, medications, IVs, and pain they had instead. I know they don't remember it now, but I do and no matter how fabulously things have turned out, I'm still sad to think of the way it should have been for them and wasn't. That's when I have to remember how blessed we are move on from the tears. I'm so proud of the big kids my little twins have become and I know they are going to be an amzing big brother and big sister, too.

2 comments:

Liz said...

What a nice looking little (OK, not do little) family you have! I am SO glad everything went well this time - you deserved it!

Jennifer said...

Congrats on the new "little" one!!! :)