The number one question that people ask me post-Weston is “How is Will adjusting?” or “How does Will like him?” or some form of that. I think that this photo explains it all…
Will is completely in love. I can not explain how this happened or if it was something I did during our ‘baby-prep’ or if it comes from somewhere inside Will or if it has to do with how chill and happy Weston is, but the big brother is happily enjoying his little brother. I’ll totally take the credit though 🙂
So baby-prep? yup. sounds weird but it happened. We had talked daily about how Weston would come out of my belly and when he did I would have to give him ‘Mommy’s milk’ and we would have to change his diaper and be very very gentle. We explained that babies couldn’t drink juice or play cars right away or hide under blankets. And that they get booboos very easily and need lots of sweet words especially when they cry. We practiced with stuffed animals…everything from how to hold them to how to burp them to how to rub their bellies.
Will is a very normal two year old – one that likes to wrestle and is still learning boundaries…so to see him tone down that agressiveness and adopt a gentle tenderness with Weston, well, it makes my heart fill up.
Weston is a very very different baby too…so easy to nurse and sleeps like a champ at night (for the past week, I have gotten a five hour stretch at night followed by a three hour one…which any mom of a newborn knows is awesome!) so I think having a well-rested mommy helps keep Will happy too.
Will asks constantly if Weston can do certain things with him…like take a bath or play cars or go to the playground. We keep explaining that one day Weston will grow bigger and play with him but not today. I think it’s still adorable that he keeps asking though.
Also, for the past few weeks we have arranged for ‘specials’…grandparents coming to visit and play, a cookie making day, a new christmas movie, new twinkle lights in his teepee…any little thing that we could think of that could make him feel like Weston isn’t getting all the attention.
We also did the gift from Weston to Will…but to be perfectly honest, he really didn’t care that much. I think Will responds really well to words of affection…so when he kisses Weston, we make sure to praise him…and when he drags my old guitar out of the closet and plays and sings to Weston in the pack n play, we tell him that he has a beautiful voice and we are proud of him and Weston loved the songs.
In the end, I know it really doesn’t come down to anything that any of us did…Will has a tender love in his heart toward Weston not because of a stuffed animal or because he got cookies or because we love on him….I truly believe that God allowed for this adjustment to happen quickly and easily and that if it didn’t happen so seamlessly, then it would be just a challenge that we would face that would add to our parenting journey. And there is no guarantee that it won’t change with time. I’m just thankful….extremely thankful….I’m oozing thankfulness from every pore in my body, because I know that this is the best of the best…watching your two littles love one another is the best Christmas gift ever.