Life with Little Sis

Tomorrow, my little sister Annabelle will celebrate her three-week birthday. Feel free to send gifts.

First things first, for those interested in her well-being – she’s doing great. Her two-week checkup was last Thursday, and the doctor said she’s perfect. She’s gained back all the weight that babies lose after birth (and then some), and she’s still eating and sleeping well. She’s also very alert and engaged during the two or three hours each day that she’s not sleeping.

Because she’s nice and robust, the doctor also gave Mom and Dad permission to start doing “Tummy Time” with Annabelle, which helps strengthen her neck and back muscles – not to mention helps prevent embarrassing flat spots on the back of her head. They stuck her on her belly on the ottoman the other night, and you should’ve seen their reaction when she turned her head from one side to the other. They were more than a little excited. I swear, parents of babies are super annoying.

But since the excitement of those first few weeks has died down, I guess you need moments like these. We’ve all felt each other out, so now we’re able to settle into a nice little routine. And it is nice. Every day, I come home from daycare knowing that Mom will be out in the living room with Annabelle. I walk through the door, get a big hug from Mom, make a bee-line over to Annabelle to say hello, then head to my toy box while I wait for dinner.

I’ve grown quite fond of little Annabelle over these past three weeks, although I’m still trying to find a happy medium on how gentle I need to be with her. I love giving her kisses, but I’ve found (much to Mom and Dad’s dismay) that there’s a fine line between “loving kiss from big sister” and “Road House-style head-butt.” Same with burping. Mom lets me help burp her every once in a while after feeding, but it’s not easy to know how hard I can slap her back. [Editor’s note: It’s not easy for me, either.]

Those minor hiccups notwithstanding, things are going quite well for our little family of four.

By the way, you might have noticed that I updated the header at the top of this page, replacing the makeshift one I threw up there after Annabelle was born. Anybody who knows me knows that this is a big breakthrough, because whether it’s toys, food or the limelight, sharing isn’t exactly my forte.

So, now that she’s essentially on equal footing with me on this blog, does that mean she’ll start getting equal time when it comes to posting updates of her own? I’m not sure yet. Like I said, I’m not big on sharing. But if I were a betting girl, I’d say that, at some point, Annabelle will be sharing her own thoughts on this site. If and when it does happen, I have one request: Take everything she says about me with a grain of salt. Those head-butts can’t hurt that much.