Wally Ben: On being a big brother.

It finally happened–my mommy went to the hospital to get rid of that big old belly and pick up Vivi. I stayed with DeeDee and Gramps for a few days.

When I went to the hospital to meet her, my sister was very sleepy. Actually, she’s still always very sleepy. She gave me a few presents, like an Incredibles book and a Cars movie, so I liked her pretty much right away. I said I wanted her to crawl, but mom said she couldn’t do that yet. Here’s a video of when I held her for the first time. Then I wanted to read my Incredibles book.

I had a hard time the first week. I loved her so much–don’t get me wrong. But I did start up a blinking habit. I blinked and blinked and blinked. I just wasn’t sure how this was all going to turn out. Dad was home all week, though, and we played all sorts of fun things. By the time he took me swimming on Friday I was done blinking (well, done blinking more than usual).

I’ve decided that I like to be a big brother. When I get the chance to “babysit” while mom runs upstairs for something, I like to talk to her, up close in her face so she can understand me. I say, “Hi Sweetie! Hi Honey. Hi!” I heard daddy call her this, and I like to say it. I like it so much that I sometimes have my army guys call each other that: “Come on, Sweetie, let’s climb this tower! Nice fort, Honey!”

I love to help with Vivi. When she has a dirty diaper, I pick out a new one for her (I like the ones with Ernie and Bert, so I sort through all of them until I find one). And I throw her dirty diaps in the bin upstairs. And I help give her baths with my elephant washcloth. When she cries, I say, “It’s okay, Genevieve! Why are you crabby?” Except when she cries for a whole car ride. Then I just say, “Nooooooo!” really loud. It doesn’t make her stop, but it does make me feel better.

Usually once a day I get to hold her. Then mom takes a million pictures. She says I’m a good big brother. That makes me pretty proud!