Taking sides

Hannah is my mommy's girl. And she always has been, from the moment she was born. She is a snuggler and I've cherished the time I've spent cuddling with her, all the way back to when she was a tiny nursing baby. She was one of those babies who loved to nurse too and would often lie there latched on just looking up at me after she'd stopped eating - yes, Mommy was a pacifier. It was hard to break her of that habit. Oh she loves her daddy too, don't get me wrong there. But there's just always been a special bond between her and I.

Abby, on the other hand, has always been a complete daddy's girl. Again, from the time she was small and would fall asleep on his chest. Ron thinks that it's because he got to actually help feed her (breastfeeding never worked very well the first time around), and I'm sure it has at least something to do with the fact that he was home full-time with her for several months during her first year. She loves her mommy, but she needs her daddy. I think that's one big reason why this work schedule of Ron's has thrown her for a loop - she doesn't see him nearly as often as she used to and she misses him. A lot.

When we only had the two kids, it worked out rather well. Daddy and Abby, Mommy and Hannah. We never did it that way on purpose, but somehow that's just how we always ended up. We wondered while I was pregnant with Becca, how a third child would upset this dynamic. Now that Ron and I were to be outnumbered by our children, we were curious to see how we would be able to handle that and how our two older children would react to the tiny being who would upset their lives.

Becca took our world by storm from the very beginning. Her older sisters adore her and there has been little sibling rivalry so far. There is more of it lately, now that Becca's older and wanting everything Abby and Hannah have, but they've really handled it well - better than I would have expected really. I know it's been hard on Hannah to not have my lap as available for her while Becca was nursing - and beyond, because Becca is another mommy's girl, and she is quite protective of my lap. My biggest difficulty so far, is probably bedtime stories because I have 3 little girls who all want to snuggle on my lap and one of them who is quite vocal if anyone else other than her is sharing it. I foresee some battles to come between Hannah and Becca over the territory called 'Mommy'.

Bets, anyone?