Sinking In

Today is the first day of my last trimester!  Hard to believe isn't it?

As the birth of our new baby gets closer, I've been thinking more about preparing our kids.  Princess (our kindergartner) understands a lot more and can remember when Angel was born.  She likes to tell me all of the things that she will do to help once the baby is born (sing him songs, get diapers for me, etc.).

I'm more concerned, though, about Angel.  She's just two and although she knows there's a baby in my tummy, I've worried about her understanding that the baby will eventually come out and be part of our family.  We've tried to let her see and interact with other babies and talk to her about it.  We've read books about babies and pregnancy at the library, and the girls have a book about becoming a big sister. (She mostly likes that book because the big sister gets an ice cream in it.)

Lately, though, I think it's starting to sink in more.  She has a doll that she's been dragging around with her and taking care of.  She's been calling it by the name we're going to use for our baby boy (no, I'm not sharing it here now, although my daughters do know what their little brother's going to be called).  Today, though, she said that wasn't his name anymore, because he was a real baby and not a doll.

I think it's still going to be a big adjustment for her, but I'm feeling more hopeful that she's starting to understand what's coming.

Big sister to be

My toddler is obsessed with cars.  Angel's the most beautiful little girl you've ever seen, and she loves anything on wheels.  In the garden, she loves to play with her little tikes car.  Her favorite toys are cars and trains.  When other kids her age get scared from noisy big vehicles driving by, she jumps with excitement and points, saying "Wow!  Big Car!" 

Having found out that she's going to be a big sister, my husband and I have thought a lot about how this will affect her and how she'll react.  The day that I took the pregnancy test, my husband was very excited to pull her up into his lap and tell her that she's going to be a big sister.

Her response?

"No Daddy.  I car."

He tried again, and she just kept insisting that she's going to grow up into a car.