1 Mother 2 Another

We’ve been home for just over a week now, and still enjoying that honeymoon portion of having a newborn – you know, the time when the infant’s simply eating and sleeping all the time.

Also known as the Pre-Colic phase.

The past week’s been pretty great, and no one has enjoyed it more than Madeleine. I’m not sure but that she thinks Baby Sister is something we got just for Madeleine’s pleasure, and she begs to hold her every chance she gets.

I’m getting ahead of myself, though. Let’s go back to the beginning – bringing Cora home.

The day after Cora was born it was time to bring her home and get on with our new life. Mimicking our procedure from the day before, Daddy met Maddie in the hospital lobby and walked her up to the recovery floor. Cora and I were anxiously waiting in the nursery for a glimpse of the new big sister, and I heard Maddie’s arrival before I actually saw her. As soon as Maddie rounded the corner from the elevators, all the labor nurses began exclaiming over Maddie: “Are you here to pick up your baby sister? You’re so lucky!” Maddie walked the nurse’s desk like a red carpet, beaming with pride, all dressed up in a new outfit similar to Baby Sister’s.

When I saw Maddie’s face peeking in the nursery door, I ran over and grabbed her into a hug. “Look who’s here! Have you come to bring me and Cora home?” “Yeah,” she answered shyly. Cora was wheeled out in the bassinet and Maddie leaned over her adoringly, exclaiming softly over Cora’s pretty hat and top. We snuggled Cora into the infant car seat as Maddie hovered anxiously, and you’d think Maddie’d created Cora herself by the way she glowed as we headed towards the car.

The whole car ride home Maddie kept glancing anxiously at baby Cora’s seat, making sure Gamma wasn’t doing anything bad to baby Cora. Once we were safely in the house, Maddie couldn’t wait to hold the baby again and was quickly settled into a seat with the boppy around her waist. And thus we set ourselves up for how the rest of the week would go.

Ever since then my girlie begs to hold the baby. One of her first thoughts in the morning is of Cora, and one of her last gestures at night is to kiss her sister on her head. We brought out a neck pillow that Maddie now uses as “her” boppy, and she’ll sit with the neck pillow around her waist and hold her dolly on it. But the toy boppy runs a poor second to the real thing, and Maddie’s always begging for the real pillow because that means she can then hold baby sister. At first, I was worried that Cora’s crying would scare Maddie, but she’s more concerned than anything else and is learning that babies simply cry a lot. Sometimes if Cora starts crying while Maddie’s holding her, Maddie will start singing to her as we’ve suggested. But she hasn’t learned to speak up over the crying, so you see her lips silently moving inches from the baby’s face.

Oftentimes I’ll nurse Cora sitting propped up in bed, and Maddie will come excitedly in and sit next to me. She’ll bring her toy boppy to put around her waist just like Mommy, and select a couple of books to read while we’re sitting there. Sometimes she’ll offer to “help” feed Cora, and will try to hold her head; other times she’ll simply stroke Cora’s head, arm, or anything she can get ahold of.

Now for Mommy confession time – a couple months ago Brian and I hit the outlet mall and got a few new things for Cora. At the same time, we picked up a couple matching outfits for both girls; I mean, what’s the point of having two girls if you can’t play dress-up with them every once in a while? I was a bit nervous about Maddie seeing this for the first time – a sort of getting traded in for the newer model thought wouldn’t have been out of line for Madeleine. But the other morning Maddie got up and came running out to see Cora and discovered Cora in the exact same pjs! And do you know what her reaction was?

Joy. Awe. Sheer pleasure.

I’m not naïve enough to think that the sibling thing will always be this easy. Maddie’s bound to hit a stage – soon- where she gets tired of sharing adults with this interloper, and jealousy will rear its ugly head. But for now, she’s taking it way better than I’d hoped and I’m loving seeing my two favorite girls enjoying each other’s company.