The house was so quiet last night. Maggie B had her bath and bottle and was in bed by 7. Mary E wanted to take a bath with her sister and help wash her, even though it was only 6:45, so we let her. We took our time reading princess stories and she got 4 instead of the usual 3. Even still, it was only 7:40 when we finished. Daniel was feeling bad with a headache and was asleep by 8pm. So, I had the house and the night to myself.
Summer TV is no good, so I watched old videos of the girls. I guess Daniel's recent YouTube kick made me want to see more. I wanted to see Mary Evelyne when she was Maggie Beth's age to remind me what she was like. How was she ever that small, not to mention so quiet?
I think the first child really does have such a different experience than those that follow. Up until watching those videos I had always sort of "felt sorry" for Maggie Beth, not getting as much undivided attention from her parents as Mary Evelyne got when she was a baby. For instance, we worked and worked with Mary Evelyne learning to sit up. Maggie Beth has just seemed to start sitting overnight. I guess we were a little distracted. I watched up quietly read her "The night before Christmas" on Christmas Eve when she was 8 months old. The whole family, including grandparents and Josh and Jen, sat watching me read it to her, every eye fixed on that little 8 month old. These days, it would have been me reading to Maggie Beth with Mary Evelyne acting it out in sequins and high heels.
Now I am starting to think that Maggie Beth is the lucky one. What she lacks in attention from us, she gets from Mary Evelyne. That child LOVES her sister. She is constantly reading to her, playing with her, this morning she was trying to teach her to say D..D...Dog and pointing to Nellie. Yes, Maggie Beth gets poked and pushed and squeezed and flashlights shined directly in her eyes, but she seems to love it all as she gazes up at her big sister in awe.
I guess the lesson I am trying to learn is to stop "feeling sorry" for any of us, and to realize that we each have a wonderful, special place in this family that God is creating every day, with every bath, every meal, every diaper changed. We are all growing up together, whether we are learning to sit, to poo-poo in the potty, or to learn to attend to so many little hearts at once.
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4 comments to Not a creature was stirring....:
"so I watched old videos of the girls."
Funny...when I first read this I thought FOR SURE you were talking about "us girls" from the Abbey. (I'm such a dork)
It's fun to hear you talk about being a mom :)
beautiful thoughts, Katie.
I was going through some drawers and found an old Erma Bombeck column my mother had cut out about her favorite child - "All mothers have their favorite child. It is always the same one. The one who needs you at that moment for whatever reason...to cling to, to shout at, to hurt, to hug, to flatter, to reverse charges to unload on, to me - but mostly to be there."
That is so sweet Alice! I will have to write that one down. Thanks for sharing.
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