Maddie's a Big Sister

9+ months ago when we found out we were going to have another baby, we knew Maddie would be a great big sister. However, like many siblings sometimes it takes them awhile, or most of their life to decide for themselves that they actually like their sibling. This has not been the case with our Maddie. From the day we told her she was going to be a big sister- she has been more than excited. During the 9months that I was pregnant, Maddie and I would have conversations here and there about what it would be like to have a baby living with us, how things would change, and how much we would love our brother or sister. Unlike many little girls who want a sister, Maddie said from the beginning that we were going to have a boy or brother. We just decided to let her think that as opposed to letting her think it might be a girl as we figured it would be easier to change her mindset about having a sister, rather than convince her that a brother would be cool too. So-when we had our ultrasound and found out it was boy- Maddie said "see I told ya :)". Along the way- we would buy new things for Dexter, and I worried Maddie would start to get jealous and resent her brother before he even arrived. However, my sweet girl did the opposite- she went through her books and found the ones that were baby books and brought them to Dexter's room saying she wanted to share her baby books with her brother. She and Mimi picked out a gift and birthday card to bring him on the day he was born- she wanted to bring him a cake too! She has continued to blow me away with her huge heart and love that she has for our baby! I couldn't be more proud!

So almost a week and a half ago- we welcomed our new baby. And again, unlike other sibling stories I have heard about- we did not have the usual jealousy problems with her fighting for attention. Instead the problem we had was her not wanting to share her baby brother and let anyone else hold or feed him. She has become quite the mama bear from day one. She refers to Dexter as her "little buddy" and is a huge to help to me!

Today, Maddie left for 6 days to be with her cousins and visit all of our Phillipsburg relatives leaving me alone with Dexter for the week. This morning as I was giving her a hug and telling her goodbye- she had tears coming out of her eyes, when one of her cousins asked her why she was crying, she replied "because I am going to miss Dexter." In 11 short days, they have already formed an undeniable sibling bond! And I wouldn't have it any other way. Don't worry- I asked her if she was going to miss me too, and she said "yea, a little bit"