The day after Caroline was born, Wednesday December 18th, George and my mom brought the kids to the hospital to meet her. I was so happy to see Ainsley and Bailey because even though it had only been a bit over 24 hours since I had seen them last, I was already missing them.
At first, Bailey was pretty tentative and apprehensive about what was going on. This kind of surprised me but I think the hospital bed and everything made him a bit nervous. But thankfully it didn't last long and he crawled up in my lap and gave me sweet snuggles. I could tell that he had been missed me and kept saying "hi mommy" in the sweet way he does over and over. After a bit, he looked down at my belly and asked where the baby was. When I pointed over to Caroline and told him that Caroline was the baby that used to be in my belly. He got a big smile on his face and said, "Oh. Ok." I know he understands a lot more than he can express but I wish I could hear him talk about everything going on more.
When Ainsley saw Caroline sleeping in the little bassinet she got so excited. One of the first things out of her mouth was that Caroline looked just like baby Jesus. Melted my heart. She, of course, wanted to hold her right away and made sweet comments about all Caroline's features. Bailey wasn't interested in holding her but was content just telling people to be quiet because the baby was sleeping. I love how Ainsley's first reaction was to be hands-on and nurturing and Bailey's was to be protective.
At one point, Bailey wanted to share some of his pretzels with the baby. Ainsley was quick to inform him that babies couldn't eat hard things but that they could only drink milk from mommy and daddy's boobies. She then lifted up her dress to show me how her boobies had grown while I was gone. Hmmm... we might have some explaining to do with her later.
Aside from Caroline, one of the first things Ainsley noticed when she walked in the room were the big sister and brother gifts that Caroline gave them. Ainsley got a stuffed pink bunny that matches Caroline's lovey and Bailey got a stuffed brown puppy. Ainsley loved and snuggled her bunny and was pretty excited about it and Bailey could have cared less. :)
One of my favorite memories from the kid's visit is Bailey singing his version of rock-a-by baby to Caroline. In one of his big brother books they talk about how big brother's sing to their babies and he was being so sweet and singing her a lullaby. It took us all a minute to realize that's what he was doing which hurt his feelings a little bit but still, it melted my heart.
As much as they love their sister, a sleeping baby and a small room are only so exciting and both kids started to play and run around behind the hospital bed, sprinkling pretzels behind them. At that point, everyone made a hasty exit and I was left once again in a quiet room with Caroline. As soon as they were gone, I was both immediately lonely and missed them and completely overwhelmed at how I was going to deal with all their energy when I got home. Thank goodness for the help from George and my mom!!
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