Mia & Ari

As we approached Ari's due date, Mia got more and more excited about babies in general and about meeting her baby sister.  When the contractions got worse and worse each day towards the end, I'd ask Mia if she was ready to meet Ari and she would always say yes and look at my tummy with a huge smile and come and give my tummy a hug and kiss.  Occasionally Mia would say "Ari hurts," out of the blue.  We still have no idea why she would say that, but maybe she could tell how big Ari was and knew she was squished inside my tummy!  :)

We decided to leave for the hospital right after putting Mia to bed, so she had no idea when Ari was actually on her way here.  Grandma luckily was here and was able to bring her to meet Ari for the first time.  When they came that morning, Ari was sharing her room in the NICU with another baby and Mia wasn't allowed in.  I was able to hold Ari up, so Mia could see her from the hallway, but that was as close as she could get at first.  Later that night, the other baby moved to another room, so Mia was able to come in.  As you can see, she was super happy to see Ari and be with Mommy.

 We came home the next day and Mia was full of mixed emotions.  Sometimes she was super excited, and sometimes she was a little puzzled as to what this baby we had was doing at our house.  We had Mia and Ari exchange gifts for each other and Mia was super happy and excited then.  Mia loved trying out all of Ari's baby seats and swings.  Unfortunately, Mia had her 2-year molars coming in when we first brought Ari home and she scared us by biting us when she was frustrated.  After the intial shock wore off, we figured out that it was just her molars and not aggression towards Ari.  Mia likes to help out in any way possible.  Sometimes it gets frustrating because we have been having a hard time showing her the correct way to do things, like feeding Ari a bottle.  It's getting easier now though.  She brings us burp cloths, diapers, wipes, binkies and other items and always does it with a huge smile.  So far, she likes showing Ari her books and toys, but we'll see how sharing goes once Ari gets older.  I think it's going to be difficult at first, but once Ari is a little bit older, the two of them will be super good friends.  Thanks for being such an awesome big sister, Mia!