Big Sister Bree

It's been a month now that Bree's been a big sister. This whole baby brother thing is a big adjustment for our little Bree and she seems to be handling it pretty well. She calls Noah, "my baby," and when he cries she'll say, "Mom, why is my baby crying?" and so on. Actually, she really likes to be the big helper. For one thing, she likes to help change his diaper. Today he woke up from a nap crying and she asked my "Why is my baby crying?" Then she said, "Uh-oh. Maybe he peed."


"Good idea," I said, "We should change his diaper."
"Mom, can I help change my baby?" she asked.
"Sure," I said, "Let me show you how we do it."

So, there we were together on the living room floor changing his diaper together. Brianna watched very carefully. And at first Noah wasn't too happy about what we were doing. He cried pretty hard for a few minutes. Briannna clapped her hands over her ears and said, "I'm covering my ears. He's crying loud!" Soon enough she was back in the thick of it though. She gently grabbed one of his flailing arms and told me, "Mom, I'm holding his hand!" Then it was, "Mom, can I wipe his butt too?" "Okay," I said, "Just wipe it very gentle." So, she took a wipe and very carefully patted his tiny rear. It was pretty cute.


When she's not helping take care of Noah then she's taking care of one of her own babies. Playing dollies has been a renewed favorite since her brother was born. The other day she informed me, "Mom, see this baby? This one came out of your belly and it's a new brother!" She changes the dollies diapers often and can frequently be seen "nursing" one of them...sitting on the couch, Boppy around her waste and some dolly's head shoved up her shirt while she makes smacking noises, much to my amusement.

It's also amused me to hear her repeat a few of the things she's heard visiting adults say about Noah. Sometimes she'll walk up to him, giggle and then say, "I'm just laughing because he's so cute!" Or, in lieu of that she'll casually remark, "He's the cutest thing I've ever seen!" Both of these little gems make me smirk since they arent the typical 3 yr. old comments about a new baby brother, but I think it makes her feel like a big girl to be saying some of the same things the Aunties, friends, or Grandma's have said.


That's not to say we haven't had our moments of sibling jealousy and so on but overall I really have to say I think she's handling the whole thing beautifully.