The Unlikely Nurturer

As a baby, my firstborn Jenna was the sweetest, entertaining from the start and the easiest baby I could've asked for. And thank God for that with my first because I endured a painful, difficult, postpartum. But she loved cuddling, would fall asleep anywhere and would love to be rocked. As a little toddler it took her a while to really get her thoughts into words, so she was kind of a push-over, but she listened, loved and wanted to please.

When my second child, Ava, was born, I knew right away that she was a middle child. I thought for a while that I was good with two kids, then SURPRISE, there was Jared. I just knew it, though, because she was immediately an attention grabber, not seeker, but grabber. There was no way she would allow herself to be overlooked or not heard. A total opposite of Jenna, she would not be held for long periods of time, be rocked to sleep or left alone very long. She was very particular about everything. If something wasn't done to her liking you would hear about it in whining, yelling and screaming. For example, when she started eating regular food, she had to immediately be taken from her changing table to high chair in the morning or after naptime with some snacks while her food was being prepared. There was no putting her down to walk to the kitchen or delay in getting her there. She's almost 18 months, and the last few days we've been trying to break this now that she's in a booster and not the high chair. She has to wait just like Jenna for breakfast. She is just as hilarious and entertaining as Jenna, but definitely unique.

In looking and comparing the two girls, Ava was the most unlikely, to me, to be the loving "mommy" type. Maybe it's the closeness in age to Jared and the fact that Jenna was forced to share at an older age when it had just been her for almost 3 years. No matter what it was, Ava has changed my perception and assumptions of how harsh of a personality she would have in these past few months watching her with Jared. While she naturally doesn't know her own strength or that rolling and crawling over Jared will hurt him, she wants to be near him, give him his pacifier when he's crying, give him kisses, help me change his diaper, throw him the ball while he's in his bouncy seat, and in the last week take care of all of JENNA'S baby dolls. They are the ones that she's allowed to carry around, feed and put wherever she wants, so she does. She puts them in the bouncy seat, on the playmat, in the car seat. Things that I just assumed Jenna would have done when Ava was born. Don't get me wrong, Jenna is such a great helper when asked. She'll go get me a diaper or put the baby's clothes in the hamper, but would rather play by herself and not volunteer her baby services.

I do so love that Ava has become the unlikely nurturer, is so much sweeter than I thought she would be as a picky, difficult baby, and, while she gives me that little sneaky smile when she's pushing her boundaries, she is so loving and the perfect little helper for Jared.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. -Psalm 139:13-18 (NIV)