Gumby: Big Sister

From taking the pregnancy test (she thought my peeing on a stick was hilarious),












to pre-natal appointments,

















to Lil' Dove's birth, Gumby has been there for it all. 

The fun times ...
She told everyone there was a baby in my belly. 
She pondered if she wanted a brother or sister.

The not so fun times ...
She fetched me plastic grocery bags "in case you get sick" during my pregnancy.  Sometimes, it wasn't just "incase".
She reminded me to take my vitamins and counted for me to swallow my "liquid vitamin", black strap molasses, which while is horrible, disgusting tasting and smelling (as Gumby would tell you) stuff, it is a very soluble source of iron. 

And, the hard times.
She learned to play more independently while I laid on the couch naseous. 
She became comfortable falling asleep without nursing when I could not lay down with her. 
We eventually nightweaned as the naseau, tiredness and breast tenderness became too much for me to bear. 

Through it all, Gumby remained enthusiatic.

She saw other baby's when we'd go out and loved looking at them.
She told me my belly was getting bigger and bigger.
She hugged it, kissed it, and told it good night.

She painted it :)

She took belly pictures with me.

We counted the months until Baby Boo would arrive.  I told her it would be after it snowed.  She waited for winter, then Christmas, then New Years, knowing that one day soon, Baby Boo would be here.

But, did she know that her life would be forever changed?
Would she really enjoy this little angel as much as she anticipated?

As a matter of fact - she would. 
She welcomed her baby sister with open arms.

She baked her a birthday cake.

 She shared her nummies with her.

There is nothing sweeter than the way Gumby pets Lil' Dove or holds her hand while they share nummies <3

She shared her bed* with her. 

She loves her baby sister as much as we do. 

She gets diapers for her, clothes, burp clothes, toys, etc.  Anything she may need.
She waits patiently, or not so patiently ;) , while we tend Lil' Dove.  In any case, she is never angry or upset or blames Lil' Dove for any delays.

She gets me when Lil' Dove cries.  She speculates what Lil' Dove may be trying to tell us, how she's feeling and what we may do for her. 
She bounces her bouncer; she "shh's" her to sleep; she wipes the spit from her mouth. 

She plays with her.

Gumby is an awesome Big Sister who is fully present and living in the moment.
We could learn a lot from her and we are all lucky to have her in our lives <3

 * While the girls do share the family bed at night, this is not typically how it looks as they do not sleep next to each other, Lil' Dove does not sleep on a pillow, etc.  This was a cute and supervised situation and is not to be used as an example of safe bed sharing/co-sleeping.