The Sisterhood

Cora was laying on the floor and I said to her, "Hazel is fussing too much--you hold her!" Cora giggled and knew I was kidding around, but still did a good job hanging on to Hazel.

Hazel is six weeks old here

She's made the adjustment from only child to big sister with more grace than I expected out of a two-year-old. Primarily she thinks Hazel is terrific, the best toy in whole house. Hazel gets many kisses and high fives and often gets her nose "beeped." I'll find Cora crouched down in front of Hazel sitting in her bouncy chair, Cora gripping one tiny forearm in each hand, singing "I'm a Little Teapot" and guiding Hazel through some version of the hand motions. (Yes, it's adorable; no, I haven't be able to catch it on film.) Hazel responds to all of this with what can only be described as nervous grunting.

Hazel is six weeks

Cora also seems to understand that Hazel is a member of the family. Often in the mornings when I go to get her out of bed she asks, "Where's Daddy?" "Daddy's at work." "Where's Hazel?" "Hazel's in her swing, should we go say good morning to her?" "Yeah." Cora insists that Hazel gets a good-night kiss as part of the bedtime routine, too. And if I get Cora out of the car first, she is sure to remind me, "Get Hazel!" lest I leave her behind.

Hazel is seven weeks. Sharing the princess crown was Cora's idea.

She has lots of nice things to say about Hazel. That she's "Sooo cuuute!" and "Awwww! Wha' a sweet gurl!" Hazel has lots of nice things to say about Cora, too--what a good sister she is, and so nice, and how much Hazel likes her. Of course, Hazel whispers these things into my ear in front of Cora, and then I report to Cora what's she's saying. Cora is partially skeptical and partially thrilled about these communications. Similarly, Hazel "gives kisses"--a swift and firm peck on the cheek, both to Cora and to cousin Logan. All three girls seem to find that amusing.

Hazel is five days

Not that there haven't been rough times and heartbreaking toddler tears. There are a lot more rules and inevitable no's for Cora now that our family has a baby. Especially in the first week or so that Hazel was home, I think the extra orders and admonishments were stressing Cora out. We made sure to say plenty of extra positive things to her, too, but some of the new lay of the land can only be learned by trial and error. And sometimes she would just kneel down and press her little forehead to the floor, like these changes were all just too much for her to bear. And sometimes we still will get a tearful and halting, "No! No take uh baby right now. Put uh in da swing." She never seems to find Hazel at fault for these conflicts of interest, though.

Here's a video from today, when Hazel is eight weeks. I originally grabbed the camera because Cora's antics were getting some definite smiles out of Hazel--you can still see a few faint smiles between face squashings in the video. I wouldn't normally let Cora manhandle her quite this much, but Hazel was in a tolerant mood, and even gets a little tickling revenge at the end.


So, whatever may happen between the girls from here on out, they're at least off to a good start together.