Beautiful Beth

We are truly blessed. Before Barney was born I was worried about two things when it came to Beth. First, I was worried about how Beth would act around Barney and whether she'd regress and act out more etc. Second, I was worried about how I would be able to keep giving Beth enough attention. Pregnancy acts as a great stress-buffer so I found I didn't get too worried. And my concerns re-Beth have all been unfounded so far. She has adjusted brilliantly to having Barney around. She is good with him but not smothering or rough. She is patient when I'm feeding him (having various dvd's to put on at that time has been helpful). She'll fetch things for me when I'm feeding too which I really appreciate. She doesn't expect Barney to do much and so is fine with him generally feeding, pooing and sleeping. She likes to be involved with things like nappy changes and will comment on the colour of Barney's poo and that he has a penis. She knows that he's here to stay and that she's a big sister etc. and seems to like that idea. She's received presents from family and friends as well as us but hasn't been spoiled with that. We have also rewarded her with special treats and loads of praise to let her know how much we love her and recognise how good she has been. Beth loves this but doesn't expect it. And because Barney is sleeping quite a lot, there's been lots of time when it's just us with Beth and so she's enjoyed our undivided attention which is really special for all of us. So, hooray for Beth and her lovely nature.

Just a few very cute things Beth has been doing. She loves to sing and will often sing songs to herself when she's having quiet time or playing on her own as well as having sing-songs with us. Her favourite dvd's to watch are "playschool", "the wiggles" and "maisy". She adapted the Maisy theme song to serenade the fact that Barney is boy with different genitalia by singing - "penis, peeenis, penis, penis, penis!
Penis, peeenis, penis, penis, mouse!".
I guess that only makes sense if you know how the Maisy song goes.
She also learnt a wonderful song at daycare which we encourage her to sing. This goes to the tune of "Frere Jacques":
"I am special, I am special
Look at me, Look at me
A very special person, a very special person
That is me, that is me"
We've been trying to film this to put on YouTube but Beth gets all shy half-way through when we do it.

Beth also loves to play pretend. She often says "bye, bye" to me before telling me she's "going to the shops" with her eyebrows raised, wide eyes, a slow nod of the head and a serious expression to convey the importance of this annoucement. I say "bye" and ask her what she's going to buy. She has a think and one of her usual responses is "cake!" but we also get interesting things like "a painting" or the logical like "milk, nanas (bananas), bread". She also likes to pretend to go to the beach and see Harris (a friend who lives at Mona Vale Beach) and get shells. Beth has just started to use her finger raised in front of her to make her point more emphatic when she talks to us. It's so adorable.

Yesterday Tom made a joke at the table about work and I patted his arm a few times when I was replying to him. Beth saw this and came over to me shaking her head and saying "don't hit daddy! don't hit daddy!". We explained that I was patting him not hitting but Beth was quite concerned and asked Tom, "Is Daddy crying?". Once she worked out that he was ok all was forgiven but she's keeping an eye on me. She also told Tom to go into "time-out" today after he did something she didn't like. Mum tells me that I used to tell her and Dad what to do - I think Beth is showing similar tendencies right now. It's cute but I doubt it will be when she's a teenager!