Preparing for Brother

Things are changing here in the Tomlinson house. The Tomlinson Trio will soon be a Tomlinson Quartet, and that's going to stir things up a bit (including this blog, the name has to change. Any suggestions? Tomlinson Troup? Team Tomlinson? Tomlinson Trio plus One?). This weekend Lexi moved into her new room and started sleeping in her Big Girl Bed. I decided to try out stencilling in her new walk-in closet, and it turned out fairly cute. Lexi helped me pick out a little elephant stencil, and I kind of like it. Unfortunately it takes two steps and two days to due, so I've only done one wall. I wanted to see the final product before I put too much work into it, in case it turned out dumb. It turned out good, but Lexi seems only mildly amused by it, so we'll see if the other walls get done. Besides that, Lexi seems to love her new room. She loves being in a big bed, and I feel better now that she can sleep on a real mattress instead of her old stiff crib mattress. Last night Wayne put up the crib and we put in the baby's new bedding. We want Lexi to get used to some changes before the baby actually comes, so she's not in complete shock later on. She's definately a girl who likes stability, schedules, and routines. When she woke up this morning, she was delited to see the crib set up and wanted in it immediately. She thought the new bedding was totally cool, especially the nice chenille-centered quilt. I told her it was the baby's bed, and pointed at my stomach, to which she responded (with sign) "Brother, yes!". She's definately caught on to the right response to what's in my tummy, but I'm sure she has no idea what a "brother" really is. She knows what a baby is, and she knows we sign "baby" when we point at my gant stomach, but she may not understand that a baby is in there, or that it's coming out some day. I'm a bit worried about how she'll handle everything. She's old enough that a new sibling will significantly effect her, but we lack the communication to truly explain what's going to happen and help her prepare. I'm hoping in the end she won't be totally blindsighted. But in the meantime, the decorating has been fun!