Another Quick Story...

Whew! It's sure busy around here!!! Here's another story about the girls' reactions to their little brother's arrival:

After I called my sister's to tell the girls the big news, that we had a BOY, I was having the afore-mentioned conversation (in last post) with our almost-eleven-year-old. Right at the end of the convo, I could tell that everyone else had caught on that we had a boy. I heard my sister say, "A boy! You're kidding!" And then the buzz of the other kids as they were exclaiming over the fact we had a BOY! Then I heard a hoot of laughter from my sister and heard her saying, "Oh no, I'm sure you'll change your mind once you see him!" and something about they'll surely fall in love as soon as they see him....or something like that. I wasn't totally sure what she was saying or what the convo would have been about, although I gathered that there was some less than favorable reception with the news of the arrival of blue (boy).

My sister told me later (now you can correct my recollection of the details if I missed anything or remembered wrong, Joni..):

When our two middle girls (7- and 9-year-old) heard we had a boy, they said, "Aw, you can have him! We don't want a boy...it wrecks our pattern of all girls!" to which Joni had just hooted at and said that they will surely change their minds once they see him. They assured her they wouldn't.

One of them at some point asked her at what age do brothers start being mean, or how old will he be when he starts beating them up or something. She told them that they are so much older than him that he won't likely ever beat them up or be mean to them.

Our 4-year-old said something about him being mean and peeing in their faces. I had told them that one difference with baby boys and baby girls is that baby boys have the capability to pee pretty far and could even get you (the diaper changer) in the face if you're not careful. I had no intention of giving them the impression that boys do this to be mean. I think it started with her asking how we will know if it's a boy or a girl....

At some point the girls decided that they were sure they will get used to having a brother and would be fine with it, and were getting a little anxious to get to the hospital to see him. Then suddenly the 7-year-old had a change of heart and asked my brother-in-law if he would want our baby. My bro-in-law said, sure, he would take him. Our daughter then said, "Then if you guys have a baby girl someday, we could just take her!"

After they came to the hospital to see our little guy, they were instantly in LOVE!!!! They can't get enough of him! The evening they came to pick us up from the hospital, my husband only took two of the girls with him, our 4- and 7-year-old. The 7-year-old wanted to hold the baby the whole time they were there. Then at some point she asked me real quietly, "Mom, how many times do you think Sofi has kissed him in her whole entire life". I figured she wanted to kiss him but wanted to make sure her partner in anti-boys had kissed him too, so she could feel justified in giving him a kiss. I told her, "I'm not sure just how many times she may have kissed him but I know that I've seen her kiss him at least once! (just a teensy white lie)" She smiled and leaned down and gave him a kiss. That was a miracle in itself 'cause that girl don't kiss!!! ANYone!!!

First night home: Those two middle girls wouldn't leave my side until nearly midnight. THey followed me around the house everywhere I went with the baby. They were shooed to bed finally when I was sitting in the basement trying to visit with our oldest daughter. They had a few excuses to come back down, then when they sensed I was getting a bit short with them about not going to bed, they went up and were quiet for a while. Then I heard them whispering pretty close by. I found out they were gazing at the baby through a little hole in the sheetrock. Then they came down one more time to say good night to the baby. They were sitting one on each side of me, just grinning and telling me that since they were the tomboys of the family, they could teach him how to climb trees and dig for worms and find frogs and all the stuff they love doing! Then they decided that they should give him a kiss, one on one cheek, the other on the other cheek, at the same time. They did. Then they went grinning to bed!

Pardon any typos or anything that may not make sense. Baby's crying so I can't even proofread this! :)