Of course I've had to make a few compromises with Emerson too. She's had to be a little more independent, she's had to be a little more patient and she's had to entertain herself a little more. Overall, Emerson has handled becoming a big sister very well. She's great with Harrison (or rather, she's great about mostly leaving him alone, save for about one billion kisses, some hand holding and a few lullabies) and hasn't shown any behavior regression (you know, except she's two). The compromise with Emerson has been mostly minimal since Harrison sleeps so much but being up late and up more at night makes mornings pretty rough. I mean, mornings aren't my friend anyway but lately they've been rough. My sweet girl gets up between 6:30 and 7:30 regardless of when she went to bed the night before. My saving grace has been Pandora.
I knew I didn't want to start letting the TV be the babysitter, we've been pretty strict about no screens until she was two and still we don't let her have her own screen time but we don't try so hard to distract her when screens are around. I like to have music on throughout the day and sometimes we listen to "Emerson's songs" (aka the Raffi station) on Pandora. So when I need more sleep (so almost every morning) when Emerson says from her bed, "Mommy, is it morning time for Emerson?" I say, "Yes, but it's not morning time for mommy or Harrison" (to be fair, Harrison has usually just eaten and has just gone back to sleep). So she climbs into my bed, does various things to entertain herself and inevitably asks for 'Songs on Mommy's phone'. It's super cool for her because she actually gets to touch mommy's phone. She only gets to have it on the lock screen and she can only push the home button to turn it on to see the picture. It goes like this:
(Song comes on)
Emerson: "Oh! What this one?"
Pushes button, looks at picture: "Mommy, what this one called?" (if she doesn't recognize it) - shoves phone in my face... sometimes dropping it. Ow.
I tell her and she goes back to reading a book, playing or whatever she's doing when I'm trying to sleep until the next song comes on.
Repeat.
She's always been a musical girl. She's the type of kiddo that sings what she's doing to any random tune (e.g., to the tune of Are You Sleeping: I am painting, I am painting, yes I am, yes I am). Now she's also singing 'Emerson's songs' all day long. Random bits of different songs or the same lyrics over and over. It's stinking adorable.
Here are a couple of examples of her singing. It's hard to capture the real ad-lib ones. Either my phone isn't handy or the surroundings are too embarrassing to immortalize.
There are a few songs that come on her station that are nostalgic for me and some that I genuinely like. This one in particular, I love what it says.
You & Me
Frances England
You and me happy as can be
Flying through the park on our bikes
On a Sunday afternoon
You and me rolling on the floor
Practicing your somersaults, your cartwheels
Your donkey kicks and more
How did you grow so big overnight
How did you get so smart and bright
Yesterday you were asleep in my arms
Today you're growing off the charts
I'm so proud of you
You and me drawing pictures wild and free
The paint flying, your smile brightens up the room
You and me reading books in bed
Your head on my shoulder
Your eyes on the pages ahead
How did you grow so big overnight
How did you get so smart and bright
Yesterday you were asleep in my arms
Today you're growing off the charts
I'm so proud of you
I'm so proud of you
I mean really, how did she get so big overnight? It's true though. I am so proud of her. She's two, yes, but she is also so sweet and dare I say it, smart. I love to see her brain working away, figuring out how to say what she's thinking and how to share her ideas. This is the sweetness that makes it okay that she's not my baby girl anymore, she's just my girl. And while I'll always treasure the memories of her asleep in my arms, I'll treasure these memories too and look forward to making more.
