becoming a big brother

In the days leading up to Lyla's birth people would ask Nic and I all the time how we thought Liam would do becoming a big brother and we never really knew how to answer that question. Mostly because at 2 1/2 to 3 years old we weren't even sure he fully understood the concept of a sibling coming into his world. And if this gives you any kind of perspective ... any time we talked about his baby sister he would point to my tummy, lift up my shirt, and try peaking in my belly button to see if he could see her. haha The concept to him was pretty vague. 

Our last picture together as a family of three ...

Next to meeting Lyla for the first time, there was nothing we anticipated more than having Liam come to the hospital and meet his baby sister. He had a blanket all wrapped up for her (a gift we thought would be a good idea from him considering his obsession with blankets and claiming all of them no matter who they belong to. Probably wishful thinking on our parts but maybe then with this one, he would be able to separate as hers only.) She had a gift for him too ... A big brother book and his very own camera so he could take pictures of her. When Lyla had to go to the NICU we knew the opportunity for them to meet in the hospital was not going to happen. So this part waited.

It was hard on all three of us (Nic, Liam, and I) to be away from each other. We had only left Liam over night once before and we all just missed each other so much. Even though he couldn't meet his sister, Liam has seen me in the hospital a few times before and has never acted concerned so we had my mom bring him anyway just so we could spend some time with him between one of Lyla's feedings. I can't tell you how much joy it brought my heart having him with me again! 

Fast forward to bringing Lyla home ... It was 3 days after she was born and we walked in the door during Liam's nap time. We anxiously waited for him to wake up. we couldn't wait to see him! We set our expectations low knowing that when Liam wakes up from his nap he is usually not in the best mood. Nic heard him leaving his room and greeted him in the hallway. He was SO excited to see "da da"! Nic held his hand and walked with him into the living room where I was sitting with Lyla in my arms and he came running to me! He laid his head in my lap and took a minute to wake up. When he finally lifted his head we reminded him about how we had been talking for months about his baby sister and said "this is her, this is your baby sister." At first he ran to Nic and said, "no". haha But then as he started to warm up he lifted his head once more and peaked over at her. We told him that her name was Lyla and that she had brought him a gift. He squealed with excitement and sat patiently beside us as he opened is new camera from his baby sister. Then while Nic went to get the camera out of the box, Liam turned to me and asked, "hold Yaya?" (Besides mom and da da he had never said another person's name but he said hers after only hearing it twice). A smile spread across my face and my eyes welled with tears as I placed her in his arms and they met for the very first time. He has wanted to "hold Yaya" every day since.

I won't sugar coat that the transition to sharing our attention has not been perfectly easy for him. When he does get frustrated that the attention is not on him, he takes it out on Nic and I instead of on her which I'm grateful for. Despite occasional jealousy, for the most part becoming a big brother for Liam has meant running to her side and holding her hand whenever he hears Lyla cry (saying "Yaya's sad!), helping her find her binkie again if she happens to spit it out, and being the first person he says "hi" (good morning) and "bye" (good night) to every single day. Now when someone comes up to us and asks how Liam is doing with becoming a big brother, we say that he has shown us it is exactly what he has always meant to be and is incredible at it. 

Watching these two grow up together is going to be our best adventure and greatest gift, I just know it!