Thursday, June 28, 2012

Brothers.


I was never really concerned with how Carter would adapt to having a new baby in the house. My concern, rather, was more focused on how he would adapt to losing my undivided attention that he'd grown so accustomed to having twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. 


I assumed their would be frustration, jealousy, tears and many tantrums thrown on both of our behalf. I assumed Carter would easily become jealous of his brother and without knowing how to properly process that feeling, act out and rebel. 


Thankfully, so far the only rebellion has come in the form of a little sleep regression. There have been a couple of days where Carter has given up his sole nap of the day (the silver lining being that he goes to bed earlier) and he's even woken up a few times in the middle of the night- nothing that can't be cured with a little Daddy-Sleeps-In-The-Toddler's-Twin-Bed. 


I knew I would feel jealous at the quality time Carter would now get to spend with The Husband as he stayed home from work to help us work through those first days as a family of four. The quality time he and I used to spend together, playing all day and snuggling on the couch. 


The first twenty-four hours at home, we didn't really push Carter into knowing his baby brother. He knew he existed and would occasionally run over to "Oooh" over him and peek at him while he lounged in the pack and play, but he was never overly interested in him and that was OK with me. I knew he would come around on his own time and I certainly didn't want to force him to love all over Maclane. 


The next twenty-four hours were similar. A little interest here and there but nothing worth noting. 


Finally, on Saturday, I craved a little Brother Loving Photo Op and Carter about lost his mind with excitement. After eagerly washing his hands and climbing up onto the couch, I set him up with the Boppy pillow and laid Maclane in his lap. 


I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. 








Since then, Carter has been an incredibly attentive big brother. The minute Maclane starts to fuss, Carter runs to his side and sympathizes with him. He loves to pat him on the head and give him kisses. He's also become obsessed with having Maclane in his lap. I swear the two of them could sit for an hour and just stare at each other and be blissfully happy. 


As soon as Maclane wakes from a nap, Carter is so quick to climb onto the couch, grab the Boppy pillow and with outstretched arms exclaim, "My abee? Mine? My Abee?" ("My baby?")


As if I couldn't love the two of them any more. 



38 comments :

  1. Oh Ashley, this makes me tear up! I was always excited for you to have M2, but I was even more excited to see Carter with him. I just knew he would be the sweet, loving and attentive big brother that these pictures depict! Just too precious! Your heart must feel so full!! xoxo

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  2. Oh my brotherly cuteness! C looks so freaking excited about it. I love that!

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  3. I'm loving all of your brotherly love pictures. Gives me hope that G will love Griffin & actually notice him:)

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  4. My big boy LOVES my baby boy, too. We only saw a few tantrums directed at US...but hardly any. Sleep regression? OMG. James wakes up fifteen times every night to come across the house to sleep with us. I can't figure it out. Baby is all I can come up with. Hopefully it will be fleeting for you! We're going on 4.5 months of it here! They are both so precious!

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  5. Oh my goodness this made my heart melt. I love seeing siblings bonding like that. Forever best friends :) Love it!

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  6. So sweet! I love the pictures of them together.

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  7. My heart & ovaries are exploding!

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  8. What sweet brothers, it just melts my heart!

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  9. This makes my heart all melty :)

    Those pictures are fantastic!

    The joy on C's face is so awesome!

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  10. Well...you should have said to get out the kleenex first!

    This is precious! Love those pictures! Carter is so happy! You can see it all over that sweet little face!

    Congrats love! 2 boys!!!!! SO FUN!!!

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  11. Ahhh I got teary eyed! How sweet!!

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  12. How sweet is this?! Glad Carter is being such a good big bro!

    I hope if/when Hunter ever becomes a big brother he does just as well with his sibling.

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  13. Awe that is the sweetest thing ever. I hope my girls are like that when the new baby comes too. Such precious pictures

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  14. Wonderful pictures, you can tell he just LOVES him! I'm very excited to see how Braden will interact with his little brother or sister!

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  15. Oh my, this just got tears in my eyes! What precious photos. I'm so glad Carter is loving on his brother.
    I wanted so much for Hannah to love on her brother but she really never wanted anything to do with him. I would have loved to have some pictures like this of the 2 of them! I can very rarely get a good photo of the 2 of them!
    Cherish these photos because they are perfect!

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  16. Ok, can you two boys be any more precious?!! Jordan and I were just talking yesterday at lunch how adorable little Mac is...baby fever right here!!

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  17. This is bringing back SO many memories. I went through the same wonderful event two years ago. Seeing my toddler become a big brother will remain etched in my mind as some of my most treasured memories. I'm sure it will be the same for you.

    Happy mommy-ing!

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  18. I keep showing my husband all of the newborn photos/photos of C and Maclane together that you put on Instagram- all, "Aw honey look!" ...at first he was losing his mind over the cuteness... now he is onto me! "So cute honey, but no." harumph!

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  19. Love, love, love the pictures...what a great big brother Carter is! I'm in love!

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  20. Consider my ovaries obliterated. LOVE these boys.

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  21. oh, this just warms my heart. my boys are ~21 months apart {2 yrs & 5 mos} and i just love their sweet lil' relationship. big bro, C, looks like he's doing so well already!

    ps...it only gets better ;)

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  22. Quite possibly the sweetest thing EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  23. And the baby fever continues. This is heart-warming!

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  24. Oh mama this makes my ovaries hurt big time!! I remember doing the same thing with Julianna and Kelsey when we brought Kelsey home- we let them coexist without really pushing Julianna to want to be with Kelsey - and truth be told I'm so glad we did it that way because they really do love each other so much :) xoxo

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  25. I cannot WAIT to experience this soon. Hopefully tomorrow. TOMORROW OKAY?

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  26. AHHHHTHISISTHEPOSTIWASWAITINGFOR!!!!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhh thank you thank you thank you!

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  27. Wow, this is awesome. They are the sweetest! I love these pictures.

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  28. Such a wonderful bond to witness!

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