Saturday, April 2, 2011

Brothers Get to Meet

Bennett got to meet his baby brother yesterday, April 1st. He did SO WELL and it’s such an amazing experience to watch him interact with Smith. These guys are BROTHERS, and that means so much more than either of them can begin to comprehend at this point in their very young lives. For Brian and me, the experience has been very moving. The look in Bennett’s eyes when he’s checking out his brother is priceless. He already wants to be involved in every process… “uh-oh” (the baby’s blanket has come loose), “eat” (it’s time to watch the baby nurse), “8,10” (it’s time to count his toes again and make sure they’re all there), “hold” (Bennett wants to hold the baby on his lap), “touch” (watch out baby Smith, Bennett is still learning just how gentle he needs to be), and the list goes on and on and on.

We put quite a bit of thought into the process of introducing Bennett to the new baby. We wanted him to feel like we all, as a family, were accpeting and taking on this new baby. When Brian and Bennett arrived at the hospital, baby Smith was in the nursery hanging out with his fellow newborn friends. Bennett and Daddy came to the room to play and hang out for awhile. I was missing Bennett terribly, so it was good to see him and catch up without any distractions. Our friend, Char, had brought mylar balloons to the hospital, which she knew Bennett would love... and he did. He went immediately to them and carried them around for the longest time. After awhile, we decided that we wanted to show our balloons to the new baby, so Daddy went to get him from the nursery. Bennett was quite excited to share his balloons with Smith and to welcome him into our family. The whole thing was just so sweet.


A few days leading up to Smith’s birth, we began telling Bennett that his baby brother would bring him a surprise when he came out of mommy’s belly. He gets very excited about “surprises” right now and we figured this would be just one more element to help make the introduction as smooth as possible. So, on the night of March 30th, after prayers and story time, I decided to ask Bennett for any input into this “surprise” that Smith would bring. He had a VERY specific idea… “Choo-choo TRACK.” I responded with, “oh, okay, you want baby Smith to bring you a choo-choo train.” He looked at me like I was deaf, shook his head and said “noooooo… choo-choo TRACK.” It all began to make sense. He already has choo-choo TRAINS that he pushes all over the place. He apparently really wants a TRACK for his trains. I shared this story with Brian and we both got a good chuckle. Then, the next morning, Brian came into Bennett’s room as we were rocking and he was waking. He asked Bennett the same question and he got the same answer… “choo-choo TRACK.” So… being the good daddy that Brian is, he set out to meet Bennett’s request. Needless to say, Bennett now has a spectacular choo-choo train table, complete with TRACKS, tunnels, more train cars, etc. that will hopefully keep him occupied during times when Mommy needs to nurse the baby and tend to other baby needs. Bennett is one excited big brother (at least for now)!

3 comments:

  1. Kerri,
    I have been thinking about you a lot lately and had a sneaky feeling that you might have had the baby! :) I know you will be Quite busy for a while. Just call me when you get a chance and let me know how things have gone since you got home. So happy for you and your sweet family! The pictures are great. So glad Bennett is enjoying his baby brother.

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  2. Kerri,
    I have been thinking about you a lot lately and had a sneaky feeling that you might have had the baby! :) I know you will be Quite busy for a while. Just call me when you get a chance and let me know how things have gone since you got home. So happy for you and your sweet family! The pictures are great. So glad Bennett is enjoying his baby brother.

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  3. Congrats Kerri, Brian, and Bennett. We love Smith's name and loved seeing all the pictures! So excited for you!

    Ryan, Lindsay, and Lily

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