Brotherly Love

When I was pregnant with Emily, Matthew and I would often wonder what life would be like when baby #3 arrived. We mostly wondered how the boys would adjust, and if they would act out, etc.

We weren’t too worried about Graham. He would tell everyone and their dog that, “Mommy has a baby in her tummy!” He would talk to my belly and kiss my belly. He would blow on my belly and tell me that he was making the baby laugh. He would often ask, “Is the baby going to come out now?” (He thought the baby would come out of my belly button. You should have seen the look on his face when I told him where she would come out. Priceless.) He was his usual excited self and we knew he would be a great big brother.

I was a little more concerned as to how Nathan would react. On occasion, when I would be holding another baby, he would not be too happy about it. He wouldn’t have a full-blown tantrum, but he would just pull on my leg and say, “Up! Up!” I wondered if it would be worse when I was holding a baby a lot of the time, and had nobody to give it back to.

Graham is the wonderful big brother I knew he’d be. He loves to “hold” Emily with our help. He likes to sit next to her when she’s in her chair or in the window seat and talk to her. He also kisses her all day long. He’s constantly saying things like:
“Hi there sweetie-pie!”
“Baby Emily is so CUTE!”
“I love baby Emily!”

And Nathan? He has blown me away. I spend a lot of time holding her and nursing her. Not ONCE has he been jealous or clingy. Not only that, but he also kisses her head all day long and says, “Cute!” And if she’s not nursing he’ll tell me to put her in the swing, or in her chair. Maybe he can understand all of her squeaks, and he’s just parlaying her request. You never know.

Here’s a picture I took a few minutes ago of my little Batmen (Batmans?) doting on their little sister:

Back when I was pregnant with Graham, I really wanted a boy. Mainly because I knew we would have more than one kid, but I wanted to have a boy first. I have 2 older brothers, but they’re a decade older and lived across the country. I had always wished I had an older brother to look out for me, and for me to look up to.

Not only does Miss Emily have two older brothers, they are two of the sweetest boys I know (I may be a bit biased). I’m sure there will be days that they think she’s a big pain, especially once she’s mobile and steals their toys. And follows them everywhere and wants to do everything that they are doing. But deep down I know that they will always take care of her. She’s got it good, as do we all.