It is with much interest that we observe Hugo and his reactions towards Eloise. As a friend commented, he went to bed one night and by breakfast, he had a sister!
His understanding of the pregnancy was fairly limited, at best abstract. He accepted easily that there was a baby in my belly but deducted with a certain logic that his own deliciously round and soft belly must be housing a baby too. Hard to argue.
While we were a little worried about his reaction when the moment would finally arrive, we were also reassured by the fact that toddlers do accept a lot of things at face value. This is what we were counting on anyway.
As we had hoped, Eloise came in the middle of the night and Hugo slept right through the whole thing. In the morning, after a couple hours of sleep, we were faced with deciding how to present Eloise to her big brother. I came out first and Chris joined us with Eloise in his arms. Hugo soon noticed her and with a look of delighted surprise, he pointed and exclaimed, "Baby!".
Chris sat down to bring the sleeping bundle in his arms to Hugo's level. We were all staring and Hugo must have felt the intensity because his reaction changed to a slightly puzzled look. He stepped away a little and looked back and forth from us to the baby. When he started looking worried, we all snapped out of it and moved on to one of his normal games.
That first day, he ignored her and refused to touch her. We didn't insist and let him come to her. In the evening, he spontaneously decided to give her a kiss good night. He had accepted her.
With each day that passes, Hugo's interest seems to grow. He rushes over in the mornings and she is the first one he kisses good night. He leans over and inspects her nose, ears or hands. Today, I think he tried to pat her when she started crying.
And apart from that, he is just himself - a beautifully complex two year old who has probably already forgotten what life was like without his little sister.
His understanding of the pregnancy was fairly limited, at best abstract. He accepted easily that there was a baby in my belly but deducted with a certain logic that his own deliciously round and soft belly must be housing a baby too. Hard to argue.
While we were a little worried about his reaction when the moment would finally arrive, we were also reassured by the fact that toddlers do accept a lot of things at face value. This is what we were counting on anyway.
As we had hoped, Eloise came in the middle of the night and Hugo slept right through the whole thing. In the morning, after a couple hours of sleep, we were faced with deciding how to present Eloise to her big brother. I came out first and Chris joined us with Eloise in his arms. Hugo soon noticed her and with a look of delighted surprise, he pointed and exclaimed, "Baby!".
Chris sat down to bring the sleeping bundle in his arms to Hugo's level. We were all staring and Hugo must have felt the intensity because his reaction changed to a slightly puzzled look. He stepped away a little and looked back and forth from us to the baby. When he started looking worried, we all snapped out of it and moved on to one of his normal games.
That first day, he ignored her and refused to touch her. We didn't insist and let him come to her. In the evening, he spontaneously decided to give her a kiss good night. He had accepted her.
With each day that passes, Hugo's interest seems to grow. He rushes over in the mornings and she is the first one he kisses good night. He leans over and inspects her nose, ears or hands. Today, I think he tried to pat her when she started crying.
And apart from that, he is just himself - a beautifully complex two year old who has probably already forgotten what life was like without his little sister.
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