Adjustments

It's been fun to watch my boys with their sister. We've been very excited with them throughout this pregnancy about her joining our family. We made it a point, as much as possible, to not blame her for how lousy i felt. While we talked her up, we were also very honest with them about babies. That she won't come out ready to play. That she will most likely cry a lot. And poop a lot. And sleep a lot (heaven willing!). We talked about how they were her big brothers (and Keegen is so excited by the fact that he is now not just the little bro, but a big one, too!) and talked about all the things they could teach her (within reason!). And on and on.

I realize Soren only came home 4 nights ago and that we'll most likely have some ups and downs. But so far, i couldn't have hoped for a better welcome for her from them. They are so cute and excited to have her home. And it's interesting to me to watch them with her. Keegen and Bode have such different personalities. Keegen immediately wanted to hold her and kiss her. He talks to her in this sing-songy voice when she's crying ("Don't cry, Baby So-wen!"). He wants to feed her a bottle (for a few seconds at least and then he moves on). Bode was much more cautious, but it was fun to watch him watch her. He was definitely interested from the start. He asked so many questions about her. I could just sit and watch him processing things. He didn't want to hold her or even touch her initially, but not in a negative way. Just taking his time. He's gone from watching her in her pack n play to commenting on how cute she is to touching her head to kissing her head. He likes her a lot.

The boys have always run loops through the kitchen, dining room and into the family room and repeat cycle. Last night, Doug was holding Soren in the kitchen and as the boys came through, they stopped just long enough to either stroke her head or give her a kiss. So she's already a part of the posse.

The other night, Soren was crying but Bode wanted to hold her. Not only did he hold her, but he started rocking her (all on his own) and she settled right down. I think he was very proud of himself, as he should be!