We’ve discussed Zoe’s big-sister status in many posts, but I thought I should elaborate on how she’s handling things. On the plus-side, she’s (almost) always excited to see Avery – or to see her wake up. “Her eyes are opening!” she’ll squeal excitedly when Avery comes to from a nap. She’s intrigued by Avery’s little noises; during the baby’s first few days at home, Zoe would scrunch up her noise and ask, “What’s that noise?” or “What’s she saying?” whenever Avery cooed or moaned. Zoe also loves helping out with the baby, and when it’s time for a change, she’ll run to Avery’s room, climb on one of her chairs (perfectly positioned next to the changing table), and grab a diaper and wipe for us. And when the baby cries (which she occasionally does during a change), Zoe will say, “Shh, shh, shh” or even sing – usually “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” – to her.

Zoe hasn’t exhibited many (any?) signs of jealousy yet, but she has been extra-clingy with her parents. She’s particularly attached to her dad; she’ll often cry for him or demand that he play/be with her. (She also had a hard time being dropped off at Elena’s the first days we were home, though that’s since gotten better.) I don’t attribute Zoe’s behavior to Avery’s arrival, though – but more to the fact that we were away from her for five nights. As much as she loved being with Uncle Dan and Jenny (thank you again, guys!!), I think it was hard on her to not have us around. Luckily, we’re settling into a new routine at home, and her memories of our time at the hospital are beginning to fade!

-M

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 at 4:05 pm and is filed under 36.Two kids-July 09. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.