Starting to Sink In

Throughout the whole pregnancy, Michael and I have been trying to prepare Camille for what is about to invade her world. We point to my ever-growing belly and tell her there is a baby in there. We tell her she will have a new sister, Talya. I try to get her to sing Twinkle, Twinkle to the belly. Her only response has ever been to reach up and say, "belly button." So I'm thinking we haven't really made much of a dent in this process. She's still fairly young and the concept is pretty out-there in her world. No worries.

But last night was her first real recognition that something was amiss. Michael and I were reading books to her as part of the nightly bedtime ritual. She came to sit in my lap - and couldn't sit back very far. So she used her shoulders to wiggle back in an attemp to settle in farther. When that didn't work, she turned around to look at my belly with an expression that said, "What is THAT doing there?" Then she got up and tried to push my belly off to the side. And when that didn't work, she settled for trying to squash and mash my belly out of the way.

The wars of the sisters have begun. Once Talya arrives, I'm wondering how long it will take Camille to get beyond the novelty of new baby and ask when is it that baby goes away.