From the minute Miss Nandi saw her baby sister, she was smitten – from the way she looked at her, kissed her, hugged her, said her name (her first attempts at saying Talia were comical) – there was no doubt she adored the new addition to the family.
She wanted to help me feed Talia, so I’d position the bottle in a way that made her think she was feeding her baby sister all by herself. Of course when Talia would dribble milk down her chin, Nandi rushed to wipe it off, looking more like she was trying to beat and smother her with the bib. And when she tried to help burp Talia, I could see the fear in my infant’s eyes – as if she wanted to say, “Please, Mama, get this crazy child away from me!”
As Talia continues to grow, Nandi has started playing rougher with her baby sister, bless her heart. I try my best to keep a watchful eye on the two of them, but it’s sometimes a track event – jumping over toys like hurdles to save Talia from her rough and heavy-handed sister.
For example, one day Nandi wanted Talia to catch one of her baby dolls. I was cooking dinner and I heard Nandi say, “Catch, Talia!” When I ran into the living room, I saw Nandi’s doll heading straight for Talia’s head. My infant looked stunned for a second, and then she started giggling. Needless to say, I had to explain to Nandi how we don’t throw toys at the baby, but I find myself sounding like a tape recorder sometimes.
Now, there are times when I need to put Talia in her swing, and when I do, Nandi will entertain her by pushing her and screaming, “Wee, Talia. You go wee!” No matter how high she pushes her, Talia gets a kick out of it. After explaining to Nandi that we gently push Talia’s swing and not try to catapult her out of it – I have to laugh about it. Talia never knows how close to injury she is when she deals with her older sister.
Then there are times when Nandi, being the big sister that she is, will “explain” situations to Talia. A while back, I told Nandi that people hear thunder and see lightning in the sky. I told her the sound for thunder was, “boom, boom” – but that Mama and Daddy would always protect her from it. Well, one day, Nandi heard the thunder, and she ran over to Talia, saying, “Talia, you hear thunder? Boom, boom, boom!” Then she did a little dance and Talia laughed like it was the funniest thing on Earth. I had never seen or heard her laugh like that. Nandi can be the little comedian, so, she took it upon herself to do it over and over again.
And when Nandi enters the room, Talia will break out into a huge, toothless grin. Watching them together makes me extremely happy, and no matter how I’m feeling, they make me smile. To hear Talia laugh at her big sister is priceless and to hear Nandi join in is a sound I can listen to every day for the rest of my life. I pray my two angels remain close like me and my sister, because a sisterly bond is truly like no other.
Chandra Caradine is a Sr. Public Relations Specialist with Texas Health Resources and Mom of two girls.
No comments:
Post a Comment