Brianna and Brenson

One of the things that I think Chris and I were most anxious about regarding adding Brenson to our family was how Brianna would react to him. As the pregnancy progressed, she became more and more excited about "baby brudder". We had many {many} conversations about what it would be like when he came home, and I know that she was anxious for him to get here. However, it's hard not to worry just a bit when people feel the need to tell you every nightmarish story they can think of about how an older sibling reacted horribly when a new baby was brought into the family. 

I talked a little about their first meeting in Brenson's birth story. Basically, it was short and sweet. Brianna was apprehensive . . . as was expected, but I'm not sure if it was Brenson or the environment that caused her to be so sober. She just wanted to look at him, but not touch.

I love the photo below of Brianna just studying her new brother!

The day after Brenson was born, my Mom brought Brianna back up to the hospital to spend the afternoon with us. She was much more herself at this point, and was much more interested in Brenson as well. She still couldn't take her eyes off of him!

I think she thought that when he got here she would be able to carry him around like she does her baby dolls because that's one of the first things she asked to do with him. She still asks to do that, in fact. I'm a {little} afraid that I'll take my eyes off of them for one minute and she'll actually give it a try *shudder*.

So, instead of letting her carry him around the hospital room, we let her hold him. She loved it! Brenson, not so much.

She wanted to examine his hands, fingers, feet, toes, etc. So cute!

She was so proud!

She really wanted to kiss him on the lips, but settled for a kiss on the head instead. She was unphased by his crying (which has completely changed).

She held him for a good long while during this first time. However, since then, she wants to hold him for about 30 seconds, then she's done. When we first brought him home, she would just try to push him off her lap (eeeek!), but we taught her to tell us that she's "all done" and to let us take him from her.

While she doesn't particularly like to sit and hold him, she does like to help us care for him. She's a little more help than what I need most of the time :-). She loves to bring me burp cloths (and even pat him on the back when I'm burping him), pacifiers, blankets, diapers, etc. She also likes to pretend feed him with a spoon. If he cries, it really bothers her. If I'm in the other room and don't come running immediately when he starts crying, she will say, "Momma, c'mon. He's crying. He's crying!" If he cries in the car, she is sure to let us know that as well.

She also likes to tell him, "It's otay, brudder" when he cries. That's what she's doing in the photo below.

Brianna is very loving with her brother (loves to give him kisses and hugs), but she has had a few jealousy issues as well. It seems especially bad when Dadda is holding Brenson. She has said, "My dadda" or "I want to lay on Dadda's shoulder" when he has been holding Brenson. She has not been violent with him or asked to send him away, but she wants to be right in the middle of where ever he is.

Also, she has done fantastic with her potty training since we've been home from the hospital. In fact, we've only had one accident, and it was while we were at church (where she peed on the carpet right in front of the podium . . . fabulous). I didn't know what to expect, but I'm glad that it hasn't been an issue. The thing we have had trouble with is her behavior toward me. This makes me so sad, but she's been downright defiant toward me at times. It was especially bad the first week we had Brenson home, but it has gotten better with each passing day. For a while, she didn't want to hug or kiss me either. That was hard on Momma! *sniff* I wasn't expecting her to give me the cold shoulder or be defiant with me, so it was a little shocking.

Every day since we've had Brenson home, Brianna has asked to see him first thing when she wakes up from night-time or nap-time. I hope and pray that they will have a close sibling relationship because that is such a special bond.