In the few days following the news of the baby, Nidhi was probably constantly thinking about the future arrival and how it is going to affect us all. Some notable remarks are below.
*****
Sitting in the bath, Nidhi is singing nativity songs that she has learnt at school. She adapts the words to our baby
A baby is going to be born
A baby is going to be born
In June, in June (original words 'Tonight Tonight')
In this big house (orig. 'In the bright starlight')
A baby is going to be born
A cot (stable) is where it will be
A cot (stable) is where it will be
In June, in June (original words 'Tonight Tonight')
In this big house (orig. 'In the bright starlight')
A cot (stable) is where it will be
*****
Using the toilet one day, she calls out to me "Mummy do we have a small potty?"
Me: Yes, somewhere in the loft I think, an old one you used
4yo: You have to get it out for the baby, because the baby cannot sit on the big potty, it will fall in.
*****
4yo: Will you get a cot for the baby?
Me: What do you think, should we get one?
4yo: Yes, and I will sleep in the same room as the cot. So if the baby wakes at night, I can tell you.
*****
4yo: We'll get a cot and the baby can sleep in it till he or she is 2 yrs old. Then we can get a bed for it. And the baby can sleep in it till it is dead.
Me: (a little shocked) Yes, but before that the baby might grow up and move to its own house and bed.
4yo: Yes, unless it has an accident and dies.
*****
WE're doing the Advent Calendar and are talking about the passage for the day (Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac). I tell Nidhi about how Isaac must have been so close to Abraham's heart because he was born after a long wait of many many years. And how things are more dear to us when we have waited a long time for them.
She says "Just like I waited five years for a baby brother or sister"
*****
Dec 10, 2011
Today Nidhi wonders if the baby inside thinks it is going to be the first baby because it doesn't know it has a big sister.
*****
Dec 15, 2011
We are playing and I pat Nidhi on the back. She complains that I hurt her when I did that, so I rub her back. I feel her shoulder blade and tell her how I could feel this bone when she was in my tummy. She asks me where I could feel it and I point to the part of my tummy. She says then that her back must have been facing my tummy.
She asks if I could feel her head. I said yes, because she used to keep moving about. She says, it isn't moving, because babies cant move on their own, it must have been floating around. And I say yes.
*****
Dec 16, 2011
4yo: Can we buy bunk beds for the baby and me when the baby is older?
Me: Yes, sure. Will you like bunk beds?
4yo: Yes, and we can ask the baby which bed he or she likes to sleep on - the higher one or the lower one.
Me: Which one would you like? You can choose what you like.
4yo: No, we'll ask the baby because it is younger.
