Even when my belly was still flat, when The Poo was just a jellybean in my womb, we would lay on our bed at night and Mr. C would put his ear up to my navel.
“Hi, Baby!” he’d say. “What are you doing in there?”
Then we would sing. At first I refused to join in. I couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, and being married to a musician and elementary-school music teacher was pretty intimidating.
But it was irresistible; soon I was warbling “Clementine” and “Bicycle Built For Two” in a shaky duet with my husband.
We did this every night, our conversations with The Poo becoming longer and more intimate as the months went by. Always, our talks with her ended in song.
Last night we were snuggled all three together on the guest bed, watching The Poo’s nightly allotment of TV before bedtime, when Mr. C began to pout.
“What is it,” I asked, slightly distracted by the pizza delivery menu I was salaciously perusing.
“I never get to talk to the new baby,” he said.
“So talk,” I replied, ever-so-jaded this time around. He gestured to the laptop resting on my wee bump and I removed the offending obstacle.
He put his ear to my less-than-flat belly and started chatting. He asked what it was doing, said that The Poo was its sister, and that we were going to sing now, as we did to The Poo.
We sang “Clementine,” all of us.
A few minutes later, after her father and I were settled in our respective spots again, The Poo pushed my laptop away and put her small shell of an ear to the ocean inside me.
“Hi baby!” she said cheerfully. “What are you doing in there?”
Then she said something that broke my heart into a million tiny shards of painful joy.
“We’re all here for you, baby,” she whispered, and she began to sing.
She sang “My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean,” in its entirety.
I was afraid when we first discovered I was pregnant. My fear took – and still takes – many forms. But the small, loving heart of my firstborn eased my soul last night, when she showed me exactly how wonderful a big sister she is going to be.
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Awwwww. Sniff. Love The Poo. What a sweetheart. Mr. Chicken is pretty sweet too.
*sniff* Thanks for sharing….
She’ll be a great big sister, just like mine is. I caught them hugging eachother the other day for no reason-when asked, Vivian was like ‘Cause we love each other. DUH!”
How wonderful! What a sweetheart, that Poo!
Thanks for taking us along on your roller coaster of emotion. I’ve been laughing and crying with you for a while now. What a lovely story – you’ve got a sweet girl and a dear husband.
You must, must remember that to carry you through the moments of “MOM! She touched me!” Because that love will be much, much stronger.
What a sweet older sister she will be! Even, as Emily said above, when she complains about the baby taking her things or touching her!
Stop making other pregnant ladies cry!
Your realize that from now on, you’re carrying “her” baby, right?
She’ll be an awesome big sis.
The Poo is such a heartbreaker, through and through. God love her, and you.
I remember clearly the moment we brought Fric in to the hospital room just hours after I gave birth to her baby brother Frac. I remember being worried she would rebel, or be nonchalant, or do a myriad of other horrible things that would break my mother’s heart and not bond with her brother.
But all by herself, and without any prompting, she leaned over and gave her baby brother the biggest hug and kiss ever and told him how much she loved him.
My heart broke into a million joyous pieces.
It’s a good thing too. Because it carries me through the days when they are sitting atop one another and threatening to spit in the other’s eye.
Poo will be a FABULOUS big sister.
You’re gonna make me cry, too!
We wondered how our daughter would be since she had such a perfect life as the only child for close to three years.
But she always calls her brother “my baby.” “Have you met my baby?” she asks people. I see it in their eyes as they giggle at one another: he is hers and she is his. And they always will be.
What a wonderful family you have there, Mrs. Chicken.
Could your posts get any sweeter?
How wonderful!
There is something so painfully beautiful about watching my three take care of each other…
The Poo…she’s a sweetheart. She instinctively knew what to say to the little baby. You’re lucky to have a little one like her. She’s going to love being a big sis!
Okay, I just burst into tears IN THE MIDDLE OF A COFFEE SHOP.
Thank you for messing with my hormones in such a beautiful way!
Awwwww…. It IS all going to work out, isn’t it?
- Lea
the beauty of siblinghood was my biggest and most awesome surprise in parenting. It can make your toes curl some days, but other days, it’s just pure joy. It’s watching everything you are trying to instill (and everything you wish they didn’t pick up from you) in your children about love, relationships, perserverance, etc. right there in front of you.
Aww, that’s one of the sweetest sibling-to-be stories I’ve ever heard.
Oh, how sweet is that? Sounds like she will be a wonderful big sister!
When I was pregnant with Julia, Dave would make me open my mouth so he could shout down my throat at her.
Seeing her be a big sister to Oliver has been the biggest joy of having two — I can’t wait for you to get to see that, Mrs. C.
Yes, she will.
And once the new addition arrives, none of you will even remember what life was like without him/her…nor will you want to.
Oh… I’m just all teary-eyes now.
oh…what a sweet and special moment!
That is so darling, love!
oh, that is so incredibly sweet! she’s got this big sister thing down pat
“put her small shell of an ear to the ocean inside me.”
Somehow my comment got all messed up but it was basically, that line was absolutely amazing, and the Poo is adorable and is at the perfect age-spacing for heartbreakingly cute big sistering.
Awwww! What a precious story!
blub, blub, blub. I, too, hope you will always remember that.
That is so lovely, it made me cry.My heart melts on a daily basis when I see the love on the faces of my 3 older kids when the see their new baby sister.
She’s going to be great, isn’t she?
Gorgeous tradition, lovely vignette.
And now, I’m CRYING. And I have no excuse. That was beautiful, simply beautiful.
Lovely.
Very sweet.
pure sweetness.
oh, and I love the name Clementine for a girl…..