Evelyn and Elsie

One of everyone's first questions when they first meet Elsie is, "So how does Evelyn like her?"  If you had asked me that question a week ago I would have given you a different answer than I would today.

Evelyn has always been interested in babies.  Whenever we see one in the store or at church, she is quick to say, "baby".  So at first she was excited to see a baby every day.  She would give her kisses and gently touch her.  Then she began to realize, "Wait a minute - what is MY mommy doing holding that baby all the time?"  After the first few days, she got tired of having her mommy preoccupied with this other child and started to avoid us.  When she would wake up from her nap, she would come to our bedroom door and if I was holding Elsie, she would make a face, make a little 'humph' sound, and keep walking down the hallway.  Normally she would run into our room and climb up on the bed beside me.  She looked at me like I was a stranger when I would try to play with her.  She rarely asked me to pick her up, and if Daddy was around, she hands down chose him over me every time.

After a few days of this, I was starting to feel like I had lost my little girl.  She seemed so distant and disconnected.  It was probably just post-pregnancy hormones, but I just felt like she didn't like me anymore.  (which of course is silly because I'm her mother and she's only 17 months old).  I wasn't really sure what to do.  I had to feed and hold Elsie, and I was making special efforts to play with Evelyn and include her in everything I was doing so that she wouldn't feel neglected.  Nothing seemed to change her attitude towards me.

Then all of a sudden a couple of days ago, it was like a switch flipped.  Now when I'm holding Elsie, she climbs up next to me to see what she's doing.  If I lay Elsie down on the couch, Evelyn climbs up next to her and lays down beside her.  When I'm burping Elsie after she eats, Evelyn will come over, move my hand, and pat Elsie on the  back.  When Elsie is sitting in her car seat waiting to go somewhere, Evelyn will come up and start rocking her. When I gave Elsie her first bath, Evelyn was right next to me helping pour water over her.  When I need to change Elsie's diaper, Evelyn will pull a wipe out of the container and hand it to me.





So, needless to say, despite our 'rocky' start, Evelyn is becoming a great big sister and a great little helper for mommy.