3 weeks of being a brother

miss b is 3 weeks old today! which means grant has been a big brother for 3 weeks now. so i wanted to talk about him for a minute. 

below are the pictures of him meeting brecken for the first time.

i had read a few things, not a ton, because i didn't want to feel overwhelmed...haha...but a little about how to introduce a new baby to their older sibling. there are lots of opinions about it. but the way we did it was we wanted very few people in the room, so it wasn't overwhelming to him. i was to have my arms free for grant to give me some loves without the baby already taking all my attention, and other than that...we just went with it.

when norman went to get grant, they had to take brecken to go get some test done of some sort, so we brought grant in, hung out for a minute and explained that mommy's baby wasn't in her tummy anymore. 

once they brought her back in, we explained again that she wasn't in my tummy, but was out here with us now. and he actually seemed to grasp it. i'm continually surprised by how much he understands. not once since she's been born has he still thought there was still a baby in my tummy.

he was very curious about her though....

he kept looking at her and just saying "bebe....bebe..." over and over again. he wasn't sure what to make of that.

he eventually got comfortable enough that he wanted to give her a kiss. which was adorable of course. and then he was done. he wanted to see grandpa and play with his trains, etc. he then left with my in-laws to head to pocatello until i was discharged from the hospital.

i was nervous about all the change that would be happening for grant. norman and i had planned for me to go to pocatello after i had brecken to stay at my moms so i could have some help with grant while we adjusted to the new baby. norman would go back to rexburg to prepare for his huge Fundamental Engineering Exam he has to pass to become an engineer, along with other tests, projects, etc. he had to get done before graduation coming up in a few weeks (eek!!!). when grant was a newborn it was haaaaaard for us. breastfeeding was hard, he didn't sleep at night, he wasn't pacified unless he was breastfeeding, but like i said...breastfeeding was hard....so it was just a vicious cycle for a bit and it was overwhelming to both norman and i, but norman still had to go to school every morning ....so with brecken, we assumed the worst...we assumed she would be like grant, so we planned for it. and that is why we made this plan.

well... i was dishcharged on saturday and we headed to pocatello. when we got there grant was acting odd. which was understandable. he saw the baby and knew she was there but wanted to ignore her. which was fine. so i played with grant and tried to get him to feel a little more comfortable. a little while later brecken was hungry so i went to feed her and while feeding her, grant wanted to come sit on my lap, so he was trying to crawl on top of me and brecken and i didn't have another hand to grab him. so, i asked my sister in law to grab grant, i would give brecken to someone, and then give him some attention that he needed. well the second she grabbed him, he freaked out. crying and asking for mama. it broke my heart...so i put him on my lap and we just sat and cuddled for a bit. 

norman stayed til sunday and then left for rexburg. i was a bit of a mess when he left. post baby hormones, i guess, but i was crying and really didn't want him to leave. 

the next couple days grant was a nightmare. wouldn't let ANYONE help him with ANYTHING.... besides me. threw fits over everything. fought bedtime like i was sending him to club GTMO. tuesday night rolled around...another awful evening with grant, and i called norman in tears. i couldn't do it anymore. i wanted to be home, and norman wanted me home, too. luckily for us...brecken is an ANGEL child. sleeps fabulously...in fact for the first few days i had to wake HER up to feed her. she nurses fabulously....everything was going so smooth that i really didn't feel like i needed the extra help. so the next day after class, norman came to pocatello and picked us up and we went home.

ever since we came home...grant has been fabulous. he loooooves brecken and is already very protective and concerned about her. every time we get out of the car he yells at norman "baby!!! baby!!!!" and points at her carseat until norman or i get her out and explain to him that yes, sister is coming with us. he gives her kisses all day long, but isn't smothering (which is nice for me...). every time she cries (which is basically never.....seriously...angel child) he runs to me with a worried look on his face and yells "mom!! BABY!!!" until i take care of it. he likes to hold her at night before he goes to bed, and he likes to give her her "blankey" and her binky. and just recently, while we are in the car, sometimes i keep her carseat cover over her if we are just making a short trip, and he likes to put his hand in the little opening at the top and pull it down so he can see her at all times. he just keeps his hand there to make sure she's doing ok. it's kind of the sweetest thing ever.

i won't lie...it's been so much fun growing our family. with brecken in our home we can already feel a difference and we love it. it kind of makes me want to have a million babies...... :) and i love that grant is going to make such a good big brother. having brecken has made my love for him grow even more. didn't even know that was possible.