Rock-A-Bye Baby
I am so proud of our son. Paulchen has already become so much better with his little sister and it's only been a week. He gently rocks her chair and "sings" to her. Also, when she's crying during a diaper change, he'll touch her arm and "sing". He constantly hands me her blankie to keep her bundled. He's a little odd about her bottle. He doesn't try to drink from it, which is good, as it's breast milk and I don't want to waste any. Yet he'll occasionally take it away from her. He takes the bottle gently, puts on the cap and sets it aside. It's as if he decided Aveline had enough. Though he also helps feed her at other times.
He'll also help change her diapers. Paulchen will hand me wet wipes and baby powder so I can clean her properly.
As a reward for all his hard work, Aveline "dances" for him in appreciation. I move her arms around while hum a tune. Paulchen gets a real kick out of this and gives a big smile, while he bops around to the song as well. Poor Aveline just has a look on her face, as if to ask why we are so cruel to her. I even gently put her through the motions of "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes". This is Paulchen's favorite song and he enjoys his sister dancing while he does.
The greatest step he took today. As we were sitting on the floor together while I held Aveline, Paulchen put out his arms. He wanted to hold her. I was so happy. I held her on his lap for a little bit, until he became uncomfortable and whined a little. This was a wonderful step, as up until now, Paulchen hasn't wanted to get too close to his sister. He still gets a little funny when I sit her next to him. He'll sit by her, but he doesn't want her to touch him.
He also gave her a real kiss today. It took some encouragement before he'd finally lean in all the way and kiss her head. For a while he kept leaning over, but never got closer than 4 inches away. Before today, he'd been giving her his version of a kiss. Paulchen will hold his fist up for us and expect us to kiss it. He did the same to Aveline and Paul would move Paulchen's fist to her mouth for a "kiss". Odd, but he meant well.
I've also had Paulchen help around the house. He loves to take care of the clean dishes and bake. He'll put the clean dishes out of the dishwasher, one by one and hand them to me to put away. He also helps me turn the setting and push the power button to clean the dirty dishes. We'll sit on the floor and I'll pour ingredients into the measuring cups. Then he'll help me dump the contents into the mixing bowl. Once everything is in, Paulchen will help me hold the hand mixer and move it around. Of course, once the cookies are done baking, Paulchen also helps me eat them.
I'm very proud of our son and how well he's progressing and adapting. We still have problems with tantrums, but today was a very good day. He even napped and went to bed today without too much fuss.
Posted by sportell0
at 10:47 PM CET
Updated: Saturday, March 11, 2006 10:55 PM CET