The lil big sis

The new addition to our family elevated the status of Chiyaa. She was promoted to 'big sister'. We were very sceptical as to how she would take a new baby. We kept preparing her during the pregnancy. We kept telling her how mummy's tummy has the baby and that it would come out one day. We prepared her by saying babies would initially sleep a lot and cry a lot. Chiyaa was very excited and receptive of the upcoming changes. But we were not sure how would deal with the facts when they actually manifest. Once when I had asked her 'is mummy's tummy really big?' She said ' no mummy you are beautiful' :) (I know she is precious) Another time when I asked 'do you know why mummy's tummy is big?' She replied 'because you ate lots and lots!'( Ahem there is some truth in that) 

 The day I was to be induced into labour, we had to sneak out of the house lest Chiyaa raise a hue and cry about both her parents leaving. She was pretty good for quite some time till she suddenly realised mom and dad were missing. It was easy to convince her that dad had gone to office since she was used to it. But I was on holiday for a couple of weeks and she could not digest  the absence of mommy. Somehow my mom convinced her that I would  be back soon. She was OK for most of the time. Sometimes when she got reminded of us she would sob a bit. But mummy said she used to become normal pretty quickly. 

In the hospital I kept thinking about how Chiyaa was doing. My mom kept sending me pics of her playing, being her naughty self which were a big reassurance. I hoped for everything to be over soon so that I could be with my cup cake as soon as possible.

The second day of our hospital stay we had the second cup cake. Chiyaa and mom came to visit in the room. Chiyaa was very intimidated seeing all the tubes and pipes stuck to me. She did not come near me at all though she happily picked the baby and kissed her. With a crest fallen heart she went back home. The next day when K was home but I wasn't she very innocently asked 'is mummy more poorly?' Mummy and K convinced her that I was fine and in the hospital to become bigger and stronger.

Once back home Chiyaa was her usual super helpful self. We were scared of sibling rivalry. So we were totally unprepared for sibling over-enthusiasm. ;) Chiyaa wanted to do everything for the baby. If we did not allow her stating she was too young she would sulk in a corner. It was like walking around egg shells so as not to hurt her feelings at the same time keeping the new baby safe. For the first few days after both of us were back from the hospital she would not venture anywhere leaving me or her baby sis. We would have liked her to go out and get some fresh air and activity outside, but she was scared of leaving her mom and sis. We thought she would become a clingy little kitty but with time she got better. She enjoyed going out with daddy and coming back with goodies for mom and sis. 

Chiyaa loves her sister a lot (as of now ;)) which makes us feel our mission to expand the family has been a rousing success. But I would be failing if I  dint give credit to the big girl herself. She is a very mature, loving and sensible individual. She understands many things quite quickly and effectively deals with them. She rarely throws a tantrum - even when we are in a toy store buying gifts for another kid, she may want something for a moment but touchwood  it's relatively easy to distract her. Given these I feel young Pumpki is lucky to have an awesome elder sis like Chiyaa.