Big Sister Transition

Adelaide is 19 months. Not much of a baby anymore, definitely a toddler and at times it seems almost little girl-ish. She's growing up. Fast. Most recently she's gone from being our baby to being our oldest. She woke up one morning with the attention of four adults. We went to the zoo, she took a nap, woke up, went straight into a carseat and then woke up in a hotel with Grandma and Grandpa. Two days later we were discharged from the hospital and met all back up together and Adelaide met Lillian for the first time. Talk about transition! I wasn't quite sure how she would do. I've been 1.) suprised- at Adelaide's gentleness immediately with Lillian, her sadness when Lillian would cry, and her absolutely needing to say goodnight to her or she melts down :), 2.) challenged- by her flexibility and acceptance of change, and of course also by her disobedience and sticking with consequences while being understanding of this great change in her life, and 3.) greatful- it really could have gone so much worse! :) I'm so glad Adelaide's transition to being a big sister is going smoothly. I love seeing her in the big sister role! It makes me very proud of her (most of the time that is). :)

 Here is Adelaide and Lillian meeting for the first time. We were discharged from the hopsital and went to the hotel where my parents had been staying with Adelaide while we were in the hospital. Upon their first meeting she was immediately so gentle with her-- she softly touched her head, touched her toes, and of course pointed out her eyes, nose, and mouth. She was very interested (and still is) in her pacifier. Adelaide only took one from month 3-month 5 so it's a bit of an odd thing to her. :)

 Initially Adelaide got jealous of the "reallly cool" bottles we were feeding Lillian with... so we gave her one of her own filled with water and she ditched it in a couple of days. :) I often needed to hold both of them to help with the initial jealousy but there is plenty of room on my lap for two! =)

 She loves to kiss her sister.

 Now that we're at home Adelaide LOVES to hold Lillian. I have to be rather quick on my feet because she will often try to pick her up on her own... so I quickly tell her no and she says, "PEAS, PEAS, PEAS" (please) so I tell her to go sit in a big girl chair and then she can hold her. I love seeing these two together and can't wait to watch them grow up together and hopefully become great friends! Though we've had some challenges with her in the transition, we are overall SO, SO proud of her...

Adelaide is becoming a great big sister!