Maya Giggles

If anyone could do it, it would be Kate.  Maya's forever idol.  Love those little laughs!

Maya's First Slide

I didn't dare take Kate to a public park/playground until she was at least nine months old.  It could've been the fact that she was born at the end of October and the weather was just cold, Ohio winter for the majority of her first few months of life.  Or it could've been because she was my first born and playgrounds just seem so...BIG.  #thatsprobablyit

But Maya has since jumped right into life, exploring and experiencing all things we do together no matter what.  #perkofbeingasecondchild

Today, she experienced her very first slide down a slide a Beekman Park on her big sister's lap!  ♥

It's normal to plop your not yet 3 month old in your
not yet 3 year old's lap for her first slide, right?!

Kate is super excited that Maya gets to ride with her!

Smiles for her big sis!

Yes, this was Maya's first slide!

There they go!

It should also be noted that there were several club sports teams playing on the fields around the playground.  These were most likely Ohio State sports clubs because this park is part of the Ohio State Campus...somehow, I believe.

Anyway, as we were walking to the park, we passed this guy who was walking towards us from one of the fields, and Kate said, out loud, as we walked passed, "He is so cute!"

People, I almost fell over.  What the what?!  First of all, WHERE ON EARTH did she hear that about a person of the opposite sex?!  Second of all, how does she know the laws of attraction?!  Third of all, this guy was a HUNK by every definition of the word.  He was super handsome and built with brown medium length hair and a smile that did all of us girls in.  Girlfriend's got good taste!

All I could say, out loud, as we continued to walk pass this college hunk was, "Yes, he is very cute!"

(I may have swooned a little too.)

But Brian and I both were giggling in the background.  She is too young for this.  Or we are too old for it.  Either way, WE ARE IN TROUBLE!!!  This, we know!

These two!

I so wish I had gotten a picture of Kate's hunk, but I didn't.  The next time I hear those words out of Kate's mouth, she had better be referring to a male puppy...or kitten...or other small male animal that you would label as "so cute"!  Somehow I don't think that will be the case!

We are in SO much trouble.

Sweetest Sisters

I worried my entire pregnancy about how much introducing a new family member into our family of three was going to affect Kate.  I can't tell you how many nights I lost sleep thinking about it.  (I should've been working on the blog...)

But then Maya was born, and aside from the first two weeks being a major adjustment, which thinking back may have been the result of me not being my normal either (you know, recovering from pushing a baby out doesn't allow you to run/chase/jump/etc. that normally), Kate has BLOWN ME AWAY with the love she has for her sister.

Every morning, Kate wants to know where Maya is.  Most times Maya is still sleeping, but when Maya gets up Kate is all over her.  She physically climbs into Maya's bassinet to get close to her.  The morning snuggles and kisses are daily, but these snuggles and kisses happen throughout the rest of the day too.  When Maya is doing tummy time, Kate sometimes joins her.  When I'm feeding Maya, Kate gently kisses Maya's head and pats her softly.  When Maya is in her swing, Kate will go over to her and adjust her blanket and give her yet another kiss.

And Maya ABSOLUTELY ADORES Kate!  I mean, Kate smiles for Maya so quickly and she always gets the biggest, gummiest, squintiest smiles of all!

I have been extremely impressed with my big girl.  She already looks after Maya.  She's already got Maya's back.  She already wants to share with Maya, teach Maya what she knows, and help Maya learn about the world around her.  She is so kind and caring and [most times] gentle, and she is going to make an incredible mommy one day.  She has never once (so far) not wanted Maya around.  Quite frankly, it's the opposite.  She usually wants to wake Maya up from her nap earlier than normal which I quickly counteract!

All of that worrying, and for what?

I am just so, SO proud of the way Kate has handled becoming a big sister.  At nearly three years old she has done it with so much maturity and poise, yet still has that wonderfully goofy and silly side that Maya loves.  She is a perfect balance of a big sister and I know that Maya will forever look up to her.

I know I do.

Here's a collection of just some of the love that these two sisters have shared over the past 2.5 months.

Kate performing a check-up on one month old Maya.

Sisters.

Kate showing Maya the yarn for a craft we were doing.

Swing snuggles.

Maya cannot take her eyes off of Kate.

Sweetest kiss from the best big sis!

Good morning snuggles!

Kate insisted that Maya should wear one of her necklaces.

And she even helped her put it on.

Little necklace loves!

More morning snuggles!

Kate thought it'd be nice for Maya to sit with her during
part of her Sofia the First episode.  Now that is love!

The sisters that tummy time together, always have each other's backs!

And even more morning snuggles with a little
lesson on putting on chapstick!

I would just like to state for the record that none of these photos were prompted, suggested, pushed, or set up, other than asking for a "smile" every now and then.

This is pure, unadulterated, sister love.  This bond will never be broken.

Big Sis Gift

By now you know that I was pretty worried throughout my second pregnancy on how having a new baby in the house would affect our first born.  I wondered if our relationship would change.  I wondered how she would adjust.  I wondered how we would adjust.  We are still figuring these things out, but I have been very conscious to her and her feelings and have been trying my hardest to "get back to normal" so that it seems as if nothing has changed...well, except for the fact that we now have a sidekick!  I figure the sooner we jump in as a trio, the sooner it will become our normal.  So far, so good!

Over the last few weeks, prior to Maya being born, I had been collecting various items for a little gift basket for my big girl.  I was super impressed with how it turned out and had the intention on gifting it to her when she came to visit us for the first time at the hospital for becoming a big sister.  (I figured there was going to be a lot going on, so some much needed focus on her would be good.)

A collection of lots of her favorites!

Bundled and wrapped!

Add a cute card and BOOM!  Big Sister Gift Success!

When Brian's parents called and let us know they were coming to the hospital with Kate, we both thought it would be a good idea to send Little Sis down to the nursery.  That way, when Kate came in, we could discuss getting her together, if she wanted to.  So that's where Maya headed right before Kate arrived.

When Kate saw us, we were kind of standing in our room, right at the door.  We had just dropped Maya off and I was very conscious about sitting in the hospital bed.  I didn't want to scare her.  (I had tried to think of everything.  Seriously.  My brain hurt.)

Kate came running up to me and gave me a huge hug!  I picked her up and loved on her a lot.  All was normal, except we were at the hospital.  Brian got his hug while I was holding Kate.  She didn't want to let go, and after we showed her our room, we asked her if we should bring Little Sis down to our room.  There was no hesitation.  She said, "yes.".  [Insert my heart smiling here.]

We all walked to the nursery right down the hall, Kate was still in my arms.  It wasn't too far from our room.  There were two little babies in the nursery at the time and when we asked Kate if she saw Little Sis she said, "that one," and pointed to the baby that was not ours.  We all had a little chuckle and pointed to our real Little Sister and brought her out in her rolling bassinet.  We all went to our room and parked Little Sis next to the bed.  Kate sat down with me and got comfy and we introduced Kate to Maya and Maya to Kate.  Sisters forever.

This again.

We enjoyed the moment for a few minutes, answered any questions Kate had, who, by the way, was unusually quiet, and then gave her her big sister gift.

Getting excited at all the fun stuff peeking through!

Where to begin?!

We'll start with the bow!

Reading the card!

Diving in at all the fun stuff!

While Little Sis sleeps soundly next to us!

Speaking of sisters, Kate also came to the hospital with a little butterfly that she made for Maya.  I mean, it was the sweetest!  (Thank you, Mimi, for the help with this!)  We promptly put it in Maya's bassinet to let her enjoy and kept it there for the remainder of the time we were at the hospital.

Butterfly love.

I'm so glad we put this together for Kate.  It was a nice distraction for her and me and it was nice to spend some wonderful time with her.

Leaving the hospital was hard on both of us.  Kate was sad to leave the times that she visited and I was sad to see her go.  I did my best to be a strong Mama on the outside while she was with me but the moment she was out of the door, I lost it, both times.  I'm talking crying, sobbing, tears and tissues.  At one point, one of the nurses asked me if everything was ok and checked on me several extra times.  It was sweet of her but I couldn't even get out what was wrong.  I just cried.  Brian had to explain that our older daughter just stopped by and I was sad to see her leave.  Ahh, hello, Hormones.

Becoming a Big Sister is a huge milestone.  I know that Kate is going to be wonderful!  Maya is going to love her to pieces.

Congrats, Big Sister!