Coping with a Younger Sibling

En really loves his brother and for that we, as parents, thank God. When asked who he loves, he will always include "di di" in the list. However, as a friend wrote recently, the feelings of a 2 year old are complex and we will never really be able to totally empathise nor comprehend what a toddler's mind is thinking. How true!

Before Yi came along into this world, En was happily walking everywhere on his own and only asks to be carried from time to time, for instance, when he is tired or just wants some affection from us. These days, he asks to be carried almost every other day! He sees his "di di" being carried everywhere and tells us he is a "big baby" (since di di is the little baby). He will also make burping sounds, like his di di. En also fusses a fair bit and I can't really blame him. I mean, I used to spend all my spare time with him and now most of my time is spent taking care of di di! As parents, we pray that En will adjust slowly to the fact that his di di, being younger, will demand most of mummy's attention for quite a while. Daddy tries to spend more time with En and that really helps him feel more loved. Thanks daddy!

Brothers

Its been 6 weeks since Yi's birth and I have much to thank God for. Yi is growing well, he is feeding well and growing bigger everyday. His older brother, has a genuine love for the little baby brother. En will often "sayang" Yi very gently and is anxious when the little one cries. He will announce to people around him, "Di Di crying" and thereafter run to the crib and check on Di Di. En seems to be getting the idea that he is no longer the baby in the family. He has been repeating this phrase often recently, "En En is big brother, no longer a baby". I am quite conscious of the possibility of En being jealous of his younger brother. However, En has been really good with Di Di so far and we pray that this will continue and the brothers will learn to love and take care of each other for the rest of their lives.

Isaac's Storybook

Recently, it has been hard to spend time with Isaac. We used to have more time together until Joshua came along. One of his favourite activities these days with the little time we have each day is to have me tell him stories. He asks for stories on Humpty Dumpty and dolphins. I decided that we should record the stories on a little book. So, we have "co-authored" three mini-story books so far. These are pictures of the first storybook we did. I made Isaac draw Humpty Dumpty in each page. Where possible, I usually ask Isaac for his input on the story's development. The second book was about Humpty Dumpty's secret and the third one was to record the story on Little Dolphin's best friend which daddy told Isaac.

Its fun to do with your toddler and does not take up much time (about 20 min or less). As he draws, I will be thinking of the sentences for the next page. I look forward to keeping all these mini-storybooks so that he can read them again when he grows older!