Meeting New Little Bro

Lillie and Henry were a little out of sorts when coming to see Ian in the hospital. The first time was on Halloween and they were way more interested in the upcoming trick or treating and less in their new baby brother. To be fair, babies don't do many tricks on their first day of life and the thought of consuming limitless amounts of candy that night is hard to beat. The second visit, the next day, was even worse. Imagine two sugar-crazed, exhausted kids forced to leave their best friends to come sit in a boring hospital. Henry was crying even before they made it to the room. But there were moments of sweetness, they both loved their baby brother and were excited to have him join our family.

Giving baby bro kisses through the plastic crib.  Lillie and Henry took showers in our hospital room and got in their pajamas then we read bedtime stories together before Eric took them back to the Thomases.

I love that Henry and Ian are both scratching their heads.  I know there'll be lots of big bro imitation in Ian's future.  It's been fun to see how easily Eric has been able to transition to having three kids crawling all over him, he's been such an amazing Dad to Ian.

It took a few weeks for Lillie to become very interested, but she is now such a big help.  She loves to hold the baby, she talks to him and he has started to smile at her.

Henry was smitten by the baby from the beginning which surprised me. He thinks every move and every noise Ian does is so funny. He loves to bring stuffed animals to keep him entertained. Henry also has taken a special interest in the baby swing, which he never did as a baby. He has gotten into trouble to sitting in it more than once. It is kind of funny to see his lanky 3 1/2 year old body hanging out of it.