Big weekend in the Kimber Household!
First of all, I have a new nephew/niece! The announcement has not been made public, but with two due dates come and gone, I figure it's fair to say a baby has been born! I can't wait to share info like name, etc. with everyone!
Secondly, I am almost 37 weeks pregnant now, which puts us in striking range of a new baby ourselves! With this, I seem to have acquired a minor energy burst, which I can only attribute to nesting energy, likely triggered by this new Gerber baby. We have officially made the move and put Emilia into Dominic's room. We set up her big girl bed with her new bedding, and have moved everything "Emilia" into their new shared room from the nursery. This meant I could get all the nursery stuff out of my bedroom! Hooray! I spent some time putting blankets in drawers, setting up the change table, getting the car seat ready, etc.
So the big room move... It's gone pretty well all things considered. We're 3 nights in, and all 3 nights both kids have slept through the night. The first night Emilia got really nervous at bedtime, so we had to stick to our boundaries. She kept saying, "When you leave, me just going to come out." We'd then say, "Okay, then we will bring you back to bed." This went on for a while until she gave up. She actually did come out twice the first night, and we calmly brought her back to bed and stayed for a few minutes. She fell asleep around 8:30.
The second day she tried this again before bedtime, "When you leave, me just going to come out!" "Okay, then we will bring you back to bed." "Then me just going to come out!" "Okay, then we will bring you back to bed." She did this about 7-10 times, and then switched it up, "... When you leave, me just going to dance around in the room." "Okay, then we will bring you back to bed." "..........When you leave, me just going to dance in my bed." "Okay, that sounds like a good way to relax before bed!" Everybody wins! Haha! We are learning to be "cool, confident leaders" of our home, thanks to the Big Little Feelings parenting course. Boy do the tools they teach every help!! Anyway, we let the kids chat and giggle that night til about 8:00, at which time Dave went up, turned off the lamp and said, "Okay you two, it's time for sleep now." and we didn't hear another peep the whole night.
By the third night, both kids were quiet by 7:15, and slept til 6:50, at which point Dom woke up Emilia by teaching her to count, and then saying...
D: Emilia, did you know pigs have 4 feet and walk like dogs?
E: Ohhhhh, noooo!!!
D: Ya... I never seen a pig.
I expect some nights to be a struggle, but Dom has been SUCH a great big brother and has done everything in his power every night to make sure Emilia is comfortable and happy. The first night we explained to him that she was feeling a bit nervous, and maybe he could make her feel happy, so after we left the room he started with his 4 year old potty humour and got them both giggling. He fell asleep before her that night, which is why she came out of the room the second time.
The other part that complicates this transition, is that we still have her napping in her old crib in the nursery. This is enough to confuse her and make her think there's an option about where she sleeps when. We're working on it, but I feel really bad about her brain trying to keep up with all the change. On top of this, I think seeing pictures and videos of the new Gerber baby has allowed her to connect what's happening with my baby in my tummy. When she saw new sheets in the crib, she ran over to me, put her hand on my belly, and with great concern looked straight into my eyes and said, "Oh mommy! Is your baby coming now?!" I love her haha.
She's been obsessed with these picture and video updates of new baby, and watches them over and over. "*GASP!* Mommy, baby has eyes!" She has also taken on a new level of playing Mommy. She has again started saying she has a baby in her tummy, but this time it's named Lucy (she always picks the names of friends' babies), and she has been putting her Minnie Mouse in the baby swing, and her doll in the car seat. She connected suddenly that the baby is going to be using the swing, car seat and bassinet. The then asked if she used the swing, car seat and bassinet when she was a baby, and if Dom did too. I said yes, and showed her pictures. She's slowly putting the pieces together - maybe it's a good thing I'm the third one due in this situation! Easy to prep her for baby when other babies are coming into the family ahead of time!
Dom is much quicker to adjust and understand at the age he is. He's been a great helper, and is feeling confident about things so far. He knows better what to expect because he's 16 months older, and has gone through the sibling transition before. It will obviously still be a major adjustment for everyone in the family, but it's easier to prep him so far. Emilia is having some attachment/abandonment concerns regarding me. She's super clingly, often comes up just for a hug (she never used to be so affectionate), and needs constant reassurance that I'm there for her. She strongly prefers me to help her with things like eating, bath, bedtime routine, naptime, etc. I'll allow it :) To an extent haha.
Okay, aside from all that excitement, we still had the rest of our weekend between the big moments! On Saturday morning, Aunty Sonya Zoomed with the kids and read some stories to them over snack/lunch time. This was perfect because it was after their first night together, and everyone was a little extra irritable and we were just trying to get through to naptime. Dom didn't want to say goodbye, and kept making excuses, including trying to read Aunty Sonya a book at the end :) After the kids went to bed, I spent some time doing painting and lettering which was super refreshing, and hopped on a Zoom call where Juanita, Tom & baby Ruben joined in from Holland! oh man. He's so squishy and adorable <3.
Our neighbours brought over some toys they no longer use, and of course those have been the hit of the weekend! First off, we have this chainsaw. It's been a fun lesson in sharing, and it will very soon (like today) become an outside-only toy haha! It is fun though.
We also were gifted this electric train. Right when Dom saw the box he said, "Mommy! This train goes by itself!" Surprised, I asked, "How do you know?" He said, "Because the train is going and that boy is just watching! He doesn't have to use his hands!" Very intuitive of him! I thought this train would be frustrating and a pain in the butt, but Dom totally gets it. Emilia is a bit of a Godzilla with it, but Dom understands how it works, and what its limitations are. It's been set up all weekend. It's also noisy, but a constant drone-y noise instead of the "rev rev rev rev rev rev rev rev" of the chainsaw.
Yesterday I wanted to tire the kids out a bit more before bed, so we hopped into the muddy buddies, and took a family walk to the playground. When we got home it was already past dinner time and we had zero plan. We turned on Finding Nemo for the kids, and made them a picnic platter to eat while they watched, and then Dave and I ordered Keg takeout with the remainder of a gift card, and had a nice dinner together after bedtime while we watched Robin Hood Men in Tights in the theatre. Gosh that movie is hilarious.
It was an exciting, energizing weekend, and this week will be exciting again, with the certain birth of a second niece or nephew!
Classic me... I forgot to actually post this yesterday when I wrote it haha.
This morning mom offered to take the kids for the day! I dropped them off at 9, and will go get just Emilia for naptime, and then go back there for dinner! Woo hoo! I am excited for preschool to start again next week!! :)
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