Loving Lily

Being a newborn must be an incredibly confusing experience. To leave the comfort of the warm, wet womb and enter the outside world of noises, lights, drafts, and--in Lily’s case--wet kisses, head patting, loud greetings and snuggles from the two little girls that love her more than anything.

People ask me if Sage and Eliza are jealous of their new sister. The answer is no way! What they’re jealous of is their mom--for getting to be the only true mother to Lily. And for having the final say on whether or not they can hold her while walking around like I do, show her their best trampoline moves a few inches from her resting place on my bed, try to get her to suck the pacifier she dislikes, and take her for a ride in their doll stroller. (I fear I may have overused my vetoing power in the last month.)

Sage and Eliza’s love for their new sister is so sweet and sometimes so stifling (for both Lily and me)! But mostly sweet.

I can’t help but smile when Sage calls Lily her little “sweetie heart.” And when she snuggles up next to a crying Lily, offers her a finger to hold, and sings the words of the lullaby from Tarzan, “Come, stop your crying…” This week Sage found my neck pillow, which she took to be a mini Boppy nursing pillow. She plunked herself down with her baby doll on the couch near where I was feeding Lily, fitted the neck pillow around her waist, and proceeded to lift up her shirt and nurse her doll with a proud smile on her face.

Eliza, aka The Stifler, always has to greet Lily after a long absence (two minutes or more) by running to her side and calling out loudly, “Baby! Little Sister!” I overheard Eliza encouraging Lily this week “Do you want to get down and crawl?” And while I was nursing Lily, Eliza beelined over (do newborns have magnetic power?), pulled her shirt up, and said, “I want Lily to drink one of mine.”

I’m sure that Lily’s waking moments contain an overwhelming quantity of noises, lights and jolts from little hands and bodies. But sometime in the future I think she’ll realize that all those pats on her head, giggling voices, and offerings of stuffed animals (as big as she is) are how we spell love around here.

Lily's first game of Old Maid