He does get it....when he wants

I have a really bad habit as seeing my youngest tike as a baby.  Wait is that a bad habit?  Maybe the bad habit is babying my youngest tike, is that better?  And really what is wrong with that, he is the baby right...now.  And he will always be my baby, no matter how old he is.  I definitely don't think about him ever becoming a man and leaving me to live with his wife and raise his own family.  I literally see him as a non-growing little boy who will forever be my baby.

Which is why sometimes his father tells me he is spoiled rotten.  Yes, Noah he sure does...blame him.  Now Noah does occasionally get away with murder....he goes into the pantry and gets cookies whenever he wants and doesn't get into trouble.  He throws one little fit and I cave.  He isn't always forced to pick up toys or do other things his sister was surely doing at his age, because lots of times I see him as the baby and he is way too young to be corrected.  Right?

I know this is unfair.  I really do...I lived it.  I am the oldest child of two.  I lived with the baby for twenty long years.  I get it!  I know it sucks.  Meredith one day you can blame me and I will pay for the therapy.  But in my defense, it is really hard to not to treat him as the baby.  Especially when he pulls out that momma's boy charm.  I have started realizing most of my wrongdoings and how some of it really needs to be corrected now that he is 2 and a half, and I really am trying to hold him more accountable and myself for that matter.  Trying is the key word. 

However in 14 short weeks his little world will be turned upside down and then inside out.  He will always be my baby, but he will no longer be the baby in the house.  There will be a new set of lungs in town that will top his.  There will be a teeny, tiny, demanding infant, that will come in and force my boy to become a little more independent while she takes up a lot of his mommy's time.  I know this, it happened with Meredith and she was only a baby at a mere 19 months old.  And when I brought Noah home she grew up a lot and became a lot more independent.  I think she started bathing herself, driving herself to mother's day out and probably fixing her own breakfast and lunch...my memory of those crazy days with two tikes literally under two are really hazy.....forgive me, I survived that's what counts.  And on top of all those things Meredith had to start doing independently, she also went through a phase where she threw wipe containers at my two week old's head, tried to flip him out the swing and tried to lay on him whenever he was in the moses basket.  I am fully prepared and waiting for the jealousy.  From both my tikes actually, which is why I continue to baby him. 

With all that in mind though, I wasn't so sure Noah even realized that a new baby will be joining us soon.  Meredith used to point to my belly and say baby and talk about baby Noah and seemed to have some inkling.  She was more than a whole year younger than what Noah is now and she at least appeared to get it a little bit.  Noah on the other hand has not.  He has seemed relatively unfazed by me pointing to my belly and saying baby.  Or by the constant reminding and prompting of "you are going to be the big brother and get a new baby."  He has continuously ignored my attempts to get him to say baby when I would ask him what is in my belly.  He has also seemed unfazed by the fact that my belly has been getting bigger and bigger.  And as much as we refer to the baby in my belly as Margot at home, he has not once uttered her name. 

Then one day a week or two ago, as if to show me he did indeed know, but chose to not acknowledge it, he pointed to my belly and said  "baby Mar-doe".   Or he pointed to the crib going up and said "dat's baby Mar-doe's!"  He totally gets it. Well not totally, but he has an inkling.  He just chooses to ignore it.  Now when I ask him who is in my belly he will tell me "baby mar-doe", but only if he feels like it.  He will also tell you that "cookies and choc-o milk" are in his, if he feels like it.  I mean he has no clue about losing his status as the official baby, but he will and he'll adjust and he will love her just like he loves his big sister.  Just like she learned to love him because he wasn't going anywhere.

Last night though, he really surprised me.  He makes me think he has a better understanding of this baby thing than I give him credit for.  I mean Noah is a really smart little boy.  But last night he pointed to my belly and said "no baby Mar-doe.....baby yight-ning!"  I wasn't sure what he was talking about so I asked him to repeat it and he said "no baby mar-do momma's belly.....baby yight-ning keen momma's belly!"  When I asked if he wanted to name the new baby "Lightening", he happily said "Uh-huh! name mar-doe YIGHT-NING!"

So dear Margot be thankful that we have already chosen your name and are not letting your big brother name you.  I do think you would be teased a whole lot in elementary school with a name like Lighting McQueen.