Brother and Sister

We are definitely experiencing sibling rivalry. Since my parents left, it's as if the reality of Ella hit, and Greyson is finally protesting his new life change. He vacillates between being kind of peeved about her, to being supremely proud of her. It's not terrible, he is extremely affectionate with Ella. His pet name for her is "Ma Hoo Hoo", which, by the way it is both a name and a verb. "Can I 'ma hoo hoo' Ella?" is what he'll ask, and I'll lower her down to him so he can give her kisses. But on bad days, he's just lousy company, whining all day, being really defiant, hitting her, kicking her nursing pillow when she's feeding. It's tiresome. One time he said, "Mama doesn't love Ella." If she's lying on the bed and we're crooning over her, he has to be there. We put a bulb syringe in her hand and photographed her just for fun, and he grabbed it and struck his own pose. One thing I can say is that all this makes for great pictures.

Ella Joy is doing great. She is more beautiful everyday, and I love every minute I get to spend with her. She is 13 lbs 5 oz now, nurses really well, and is a great sleeper. I have to admit I love having a baby girl. It's not that I love my little boy less, but a baby girl feels different. Greyson was resilient and strong, she is precious and fragile. She's starting to talk, and she and I have great conversation. I remember being so overwhelmed when Greyson was this age. Everything seemed so hard. This time, everything baby feels like a piece of cake compared to everything preschooler. And looking forward, I know that everything preschooler will seem much easier compared to everything adolescent. At the end of the day, these are precious years when our kids are at home with us. I must enjoy this time.