"I love you, baby Ivy"

I just wanted to write down a couple things about our first few days home and how Ezra is adjusting to his new sister. That is probably the number one question we get about how we are doing--what does Ezra think about all this? Well, so far, he LOVES his little sister. He wants to hold her, show her all his toys, and hold her some more. He has been going up to her throughout the day and saying, "I love you baby Ivy," without being prompted by us. He will hold her and look at us and say, "MY baby Ivy." When she cries, he gets very concerned and says, "Don't cry baby Ivy. Poor baby."

Right before Ivy was born, Ezra and I had a talk. I told him that when Ivy comes, I would really need his help. He was being silly as usual when we were having this talk, but Ezra hears what we tell him (whether he chooses to do it is another thing), and I know that he took this talk to heart because he is already being such a helper...going to get a pacifier, or a burp rag, or just trying to figure out why Ivy is sad. This morning as I was dressing Ivy for church, she started crying. The next thing I know, I hear a little boy's steps running into the hallway, I see him pass Ivy's room running, and realizing we're in there, stop in his tracks and back up. Her crying had awoken him and reminded him that he had a new baby to tend to. 

Tonight as Ivy was hanging out in her swing, Ezra was bringing up his little dinosaurs and setting them on the tray of her swing, one by one, explaining that this one is a stegosaurus and this one is a brachiosaurus and this one is a t-rex. It seems he is already taking the responsibility of being a big brother very seriously. She needs to know what kinds of dinosaurs these are! She does not sleep as much when he is around. She watches him. And I watch both of them already interacting. I hope I never forget Ezra telling her "I love you baby Ivy." It's amazing how quickly she has just become a part of our family.