siblings

I once read a quote to the effect that the best gift you can give your child is a sibling.  There's something about having another person in your life who grew up in the same house with the same parents in the same way that you did, neither of you knowing any different.  I know for myself, I talk to my sister on a near-daily basis.  And when my niece wrote to me that she was only going to have two kids tops (unlike her mother, who has FOUR kids), I wrote back that come Thanksgiving and Christmas, when they are all grown up with kids of their own, she'll love the chaos of family.  She really will.  Britton has done exceedingly well adjusting to her baby brother's crash into our lives.  She is so proud of being a big sister, and she remarks multiple times a day that she is a great big sister - we've talked her up, huh?  

I'm not a pessimist, but my expectations for this adjustment were quite low.  Honestly, the adjustment for the hubs and I to go from married couple to married with a child was so shocking, so altering, that I readily expected us to have a deer-in-the-headlights look for the next three months.  But adding another child is not nearly as hard as adding a first child, and I think we've done quite well juggling this new arrangement, and I think that influences Britton.  She doesn't see us freak out, so she doesn't freak out.  

Britton keeps telling me all the things she's going to teach her brother - how to swing, go down a slide, swim, do ballet, get dressed - all things she can do herself.  I can't wait to see her try.  She's even offered to share her Winnie, which makes my hormonal heart get all weepy.  I know it's only been two weeks, but we're doing well.  We're doing better than expected.  And for that, I'm grateful.