Happy Birthday, Noelle!!!

I am now officially the mother of a four-year-old....How did this happen??!! I look at her and don't even SEE a baby any more. Already she behaves like a little mommy with Simon. They are so good at entertaining each other. When it is time to pick her up at school each day, I just need to say the word and he is running to the door, ready to go. It should be interesting to see what adding a third one to the mix does to change the sibling dynamic.

My biggest concern regarding our newest addition (besides the obvious, that her arrival is fast, safe and that both mom and baby are healthy afterward) is the impact it will have on the current baby of the family. Unlike his big sister, Simon still seems SO young. In reality, assuming I go to term, he will be about the same age she was when he was born. I think the fact that he is still not verbal makes him seem even younger. I remember Noelle at least having a vague understanding of what was about to happen in the weeks preceding Simon's birth. She knew his name, understood (as much as a two-year-old can) that he was in my tummy and that he would be coming out sometime soon.

Simon, on the other hand, is in for the biggest surprise of his life. We talk about the baby all the time and he loves to lay his head on my tummy, but I doubt that he really knows there's a whole 'nother human in there. Hell, I think Leo even has trouble with that concept sometimes. It must be so strange to be on the paternal side of the parenting fence. One night you have sex and nine months later a baby is born with half your genetic code. In my current state of perpetual heartburn, it certainly seems like a sweet deal, but it must do a number on the head. As impossible as I know it to be, I was certain that I was pregnant the very morning after this baby was conceived. I woke up and I just KNEW. Since then, I have felt her kick, punch, roll and attempt to stuff various body parts through my cervix. I have thrown up my breakfast and felt her hiccuping afterwards in empathy. I know her already, just as I knew Noelle and Simon months before they were born. And I have a feeling that, just like them, little Sophie is going to shake things up around here BIG TIME.