Emily

My Boys

I was really worried about how Peter’s arrival would affect Thomas. I knew Nell’s world would be temporarily rocked, but I also knew that she’s young enough (not quite 21 months older than Peter) that she’d quickly get over it and will honestly not remember life before she was the middle child. Thomas was over the moon about the idea of a new baby from the moment we told him. He’d ask us all the time when the baby was coming, and checked the calendar frequently to see when March was coming. He told me that he wanted the baby to sleep in his room – in his arms – and actually cried when B set up the crib in the nursery. I was worried that the reality of a new baby would not quite meet his expectations – especially since his memory of Nell joining our family is limited {at best – I’d say his “memory” of Nell being born is all thanks to our family photo albums, not his actual memory} since he was just shy of 2 when she was born.

I was also worried because Thomas desperately wanted a brother. Not because he doesn’t love his sister, but because “I already have a sister, so now I need a brother.” And also, because he apparently has Manning brother-esque dreams for himself and Peter {we’ll worry about the fact that my sons playing football terrifies me and I’d rather they just be great soccer players and then become football kickers/punters in high school should they still have football dreams later}. I actually started to second guess our choice to keep the baby’s sex a secret until delivery because Thomas was so set on having a brother. We talked a lot about how the baby was going to be either a brother or sister, and either one would be wonderful. And I know that B and I would have totally handled Thomas being the older brother of two sisters well and made him so proud to be our boy, I know that it wouldn’t have really been an issue. But I was worried all the same about his sweet, sensitive heart.

Well, all that worry was unnecessary. As we went into the final weeks, I was pretty sure we were having a boy (my original gut instinct has been right every time - I never wavered on Thomas being a boy and told everyone that we didn’t know but that he was totally a boy, but with Nell and Peter I was never certain enough to shout my predictions from the rooftop, and I did a lot of second guessing my gut instinct throughout each of those pregnancies, but always went back to my gut instinct when asked right before delivering what my final guess was). And when Thomas and Nell came to meet Peter in the hospital, their reactions were priceless. Nell was interested for a second and then just wanted to snuggle with me and be held by me and ride the hospital bed up and down. I was happy to oblige. Since we’ve been home she’s far more interested in “Pete the Baby” (as opposed to her other favorite Pete – the cat) and she loves to look at him, kiss him and hold him.

And Thomas? Was over the moon. He hasn’t stopped grinning from ear to ear since Peter was born, and he requests to hold him, kiss him and teach him things all the time.

And Peter seems pretty content to hang out in his big brother’s arms.


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