Introducing: Hostage Baby

This is Georgia's baby doll, which she got for Christmas but has started taking more of an interest in lately. Which is great and all, because when I look at her sweetly changing its diaper I think she's gonna knock this whole big sister thing outta the park. Um, except for the hat, which for whatever reason she usually insists on pulling all the way down over the poor thing's face. Kinda creepy and disturbing the first few times you see it, but Joe and I are so used to it now that we just find it funny. (Note also in the picture below that of course Georgia has to put her own real diapers on this doll, so it's pretty much diapered all the way from its chin to the nape of its neck. Nice.)

On the subject of big sisterhood, people keep asking if we think Georgia gets it. The answer is sort of. She knows there's a baby in mommy's tummy and likes to kiss it. Except then she also wants to kiss Joe's stomach and tells him that there's a baby in there, too. So, no, she's not quite grasping the whole thing. She talks about becoming a big sister "when the baby comes out," but then again seems more focused on things like "grocery store!" "doggie!" and "birdseed!" when we read her big sister themed books together.....kinda missing the overall message there.

None of this concerns me, though, because seriously, how can anyone, much less a not-even-two year old, have a clue how much life is going to change with the arrival of a sibling? I probably don't even have a clue. And yet the really wild thing is that eventually, she'll never remember life without this new addition.

So, I think I'll wait for jealousy and rivalry to crop up later and for now take comfort in the fact that Georgia is fascinated by Baby Max, Harry's new little brother, and she's thoughtful enough to turn the white noise machine on for Hostage Baby when putting her to bed. I'll just have to remember to keep all hats out of reach once the real baby arrives.