And Then There Were Four (or is it six)

Mike, Mollie, Andrew, Samwise, Pedro and Annaliese all spent last night in the shared shelter of our house. That’s right, after a brief show-and-tell at Mike’s school and Andrew’s daycare (away from any kids, of course), Annaliese came home to join our family. She laid claim to the very foundations of our house at around 4:30 yesterday afternoon.

There have been many firsts in the last twenty-four hours. For the first time, I held my baby girl without her being tethered to a machine. For the first time, Mollie laid her in the cradle I built for Andrew two long years ago. And for the first time, I held my little girl against my bare chest. While that may seem like a strange thing to share, it is a small payment against the jealousy this father feels over a mother’s greatest gift to their hungry, infant child.

So our life adapts once more to accommodate a new baby to our home. Some of these changes seem almost second nature, as if they are easy and natural to make a second time around. Others, like the loss of sleeping privileges, I may never quite grow accustomed to.

Andrew is at daycare today. Trying to teach him, shall we say, proper etiquette around a baby will be, at the least, interesting. We got him a baby doll to ‘practice’ with. Within two minutes, he had dropped it on its head. I guess that is why we didn’t just hand him the real thing. I would, however, love to give him the opportunity to hold Anna. I do not know what is best to help him acclimate himself to this attention-hoarding creature that has invaded his space, but I think I have to give him as many opportunities to see, touch and care for her as I responsibly can. I can tell that he has already found some internal connection to her. I can see the wonder in his eyes when he looks at her (at least until he is distracted by some other shiny object).

And now it hits me. My job as a father has not just doubled, it has tripled. I still have to responsibility of raising Andrew and now Annaliese to be responsible, loving and giving adults, but I also have the added responsibility of teaching Andrew to be a good big brother to his little sister. Together, he and I will have the huge responsibility of guiding and protecting her.  I just hope he grows up to be big enough to put a little fear into all the gentleman suitors.