Now that Avery has turned four, and that he is grasping the idea that he will be a “big brother” of a new baby sister, he has been concentrating on appearing like a “big boy”. Here are some quotes:
“I’m STRONG because I’m four!”
Avery asked me to “put his potty seat in the garage sale” since he is four now and that he is “too big for it”.
He often asks if certain books, toys, silverware, videos, TV characters “are for babies”. He is trying to distinguish what is too little for him now.
If he finds a toy in his room that he thinks he has outgrown, he puts it in his little sister’s room “for her to play wiff.”
At the library, he told the librarian that a Calliou book (what used to be one of his favorites to check out) “was for babies”. We checked it out anyway, and reassured him that when we read it together, we were actually reading it “to the baby in mommy’s tummy” (since I could tell that he still was curious to read it, but was embarrassed to). That seemed to be a relief to him since he could still safely hear the story as a big boy.
Clint and I were discussing having a date night and the logistics of hiring a babysitter. Avery overheard “babysitter” and told us that he was “not a baby” and that we needed a “big boy sitter” instead.
One of his older girl friends told him that Lightning McQueen “was for babies”. He adamantly protested that it wasn’t and still proudly wears his Lightning McQueen house slippers and jacket. He is figuring out what it means to be “bigger”, but still hasn’t lost the sense of who he is and what he likes.
We’ve talked to Avery about how proud we are of him and the many things he can do now all by himself. We also reminded Avery that when his baby sister comes, she will be very little and can’t do hardly anything by herself – and that we are all going to have to work as a team to take care of her. Avery knows that we are glad he is such a big boy who can help. We’ve also tried to explain that sometimes it will seem like we are paying more attention to the baby since she will need our help so much, but that there are a lot of fun things that he will be able to do that she can’t do yet. It seems like Avery is excited about the idea being big enough to help care for her and protect her, but we will be mindful not to expect too much from him and to give him as much love and reassurance as possible too.
