Getting ready to be a big brother

Gavin's days as an "only child" are numbered. Any day now, his little world is getting ready to be rocked by a little sister.  Somedays I'm so excited for him and can't wait until he gets to meet this little girl who's bound to be one of his best friends, his partner in crime, his conspirator in mischief and a fixture in his life.  But there are other days when my heart feels a little tinge of sadness for him, hoping that he'll understand why mommy and daddy might be a little distracted for a few weeks or why he has to be more quiet in the house than he used to or why he's not the only main event any more.  I know he has to take one to get the other...and I know that overall it's going to be a completely wonderful transition.  He's already started doing some big brotherly things to get ready for the new lady of the house.  Things like: 

Getting used to her gear:

This won't only be a hard lesson for Gavin- I think that Matthew has been a little overwelmed at how much more gear a girl brings than a guy as well.  Bows, ribbons, tutus- for every 1 thing Gavin had as a baby, this little gal has 4!  Gavin definitely knows what to do with her bloomers though!  I LOVE this- we didn't even do this for him.  One day we were going through a box of clothes, he picked up the bloomers, look at them a little curiously at first- and then with conviction and gusto, he put them exactly where he knew they belonged.  On his head.   

Gavin has also been a big helper getting her room nice and ready.

Gavin loves spending time in "sister's Room".  At first I think he liked it because it had lots of tools and painting equipment in it.  You better believe he loved helping put down that drop cloth!  But now that it's a bit tidier, he still loves to help put things away in her room.  He knows right where to go when we ask him "can you go put this in sister's room?" 

He's also spending a lot of time serving as our quality control coordinator by making sure all of her stuff works.  I love this pic!  I came home from one of my showers and laid this blanket out to show Matthew the  gift someone gave us (isn't it cute!) and he immediately made a beeline for it and laid down on it.  Since then, every time we get it out he comes and lays down on it.  We'll have to remember that for "quiet times" here in a few days.   

Working on becoming a little gentleman:

Okay, so this pic doesn't have a lot to do with being a big brother..but how cute is that?  Doesn't he look just like a little man?  He's really gotten into wiping his mouth lately.  If he sees any type of towel, napkin or washcloth, he'll go over to it and wipe his little mouth off.  So sweet. Unless it's the washcloth we used to wipe his feet off with the night before...and then we make a mad dash to get it from him.  Sick. 

The other morning at breakfast we sat him in a real seat and gave him his plate and fork and napkin like a big kid.  Neither of us could believe how grown up he looked! 

 And he was pretty proud of himself too.

He's also been learning very well that you're "gentle" with the baby.

Okay, so our genius plan was to get Gavin a baby doll and have "family time" with the doll so that he would know that you "love the baby" and how to be gentle with it.  Secretly my two biggest fears are that he'll either try to poke her eyes or feed her real food.  Surely a doll can help with those two worries, right?  Well, the thought didn't occur to me that he plays with dolls at church, so when we brought the doll home, it wasn't the unfamiliar wonder that we thought she'd be.  He made a beeline for her, grabbed her and carried her upside down across the living room floor.  So much for my romanticized ideas of getting used to the baby. 

But he has had some super cute moments, including changing her diapers, wiping her bottom with dryer sheets instead of wipies, making sure he knows where her belly button is and occassionally we've seen him rocking the dolly and patting her back.  

How can that not melt your heart? 

Yeah, I think he's gonna be an okay big brother.