Wednesday, September 15, 2010

In Which Connor Is Not Sad About Being An Only Child

Thanks everyone, for your comments, e-mails, and kind thoughts of yesterday.  We appreciate all your love and support.

We had a pretty quiet day today.  Connor had his physical therapy and occupational therapy this morning, and they both went well.  He has back-to-back sessions now, which usually leaves him pretty tired but not totally overwhelmed like it would have done a couple of years ago.  He was a bit ornery today, which I'm pretty sure was fall out from the drama of the past week.  Connor's a pretty good barometer for our moods, and we'd also been preparing him for travel and for having a little brother for the past week.  And you know how much this kid loves change-- which is to say not at all.

I am absolutely sure that when we bring another child home we are going to be dealing with some jealousy issues for the first few weeks.  Not that there's much Connor would be able to do except mope about it-- his mobility issues and lack of functional opposable thumbs wouldn't allow him to do anything more threatening.  When we first told Connor that he was going to have a brother, his response was "No.  All done.  Go away."  Obviously he was less than thrilled.  When I told him that the baby's Mommy and Daddy had decided to take care of him and so Connor would not be a big brother soon, the little stinker actually applauded.  While I have no doubt that after the first few weeks of adjustment Connor would love having a brother or sister, clearly he is not exactly sad about being an only child for a while longer. 

Oh well.  I suspect if four year olds were allowed to make decisions on having more siblings there would be very few multiple-child households.  Luckily Connor is not in charge around here.

I think he's not, anyway.  Sometimes it seems like a gray area.

Anyway, so he had a good time despite himself at therapy.  Laura and Jolie pulled out the big guns-- the swings, which always get a smile out of him no matter how hard he tries to convince us he's in a bad mood.  It's really funny how he'll grin until he realizes that you're watching him and then immediately tries to put a serious look back on his face.  By the end of the second hour he'd forgotten about his bad mood and I walked out of there with a tired but obviously happy kid.

Silly little guy. 

~Jess

11 comments:

Ashley said...

Hi, Jess!

I've been reading along with you for awhile, though I can't remember how I found you. My other half mentioned that they'd love to make Connor a "sad hat" for a teddy bear or something like that. His gorgeous little face brings a grin around here anytime.

If this would be something you'd be interested in us doing for Connor, feel free to drop me a line at ashleywriter at gmail dot com

Lin said...

Connor doesn't know what having a brother is other than seeing you be sad about the loss of the adoption. Having a sibling is the best gift you can give a child--even if they don't think so.

The time will come, pally. Nothing worthwhile comes without pain and some struggles. And then you will all rejoice--including Connor. We ALL go through this when we are debating a second child! How will Child #1 deal???! Oh, they do just fine. :)

leah said...

He applauded, lol! What a (cute) little stinker! He'll adapt when the time comes, though it might take a little while. We had our boys so close together that Matt was pretty clueless as to what was happening- he adapted to Nolan in the same way that one might adapt to a piece of new furniture. If we had another child now, I'm afraid, the adjustment would be more difficult!

Wherever HE Leads We'll Go said...

Oh, he is a little stinker! He really does like things HIS way, doesn't he. I have no doubt that he will come around when the time comes.

Anonymous said...

Connor is so cute.

When I was two and a half, my mom was pregnant with my younger sister. In an attempt to make me feel involved, she asked me what I thought the new baby should be named. My only suggestion was "Donald Duck".

Julia O'C said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Julia O'C said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Julia O'C said...

Violet STILL tells us she doesn't want a sibling!!

Too late, kiddo. Too late.

PS: Donald Duck McGuffey has a nice ring to it!!

PPS: I really should start using that "preview" button before I publish. Yikes.

Searching for Grace said...

I was wrong~~I haven't been following your blog and have been completely missing out! I really enjoyed chatting with you today! Have a great week!!!

~Brandi

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Oh my word, Connor cracks me up every time!

My sympathies, though, about the placements falling through. Must be an emotional roller coaster.

Thinking of Connor having a sibling... he is so NORMAL. My oldest one actually asked me to take his baby brother back to the hospital, and when a lady at church asked him if having a baby brother was "fun", gave her a stony look and dead-panned, "NO." He was 2 1/2.

And now they're like the three musketeers. (Or the three wise guys.)

Looking forward to someday reading posts about your next child,

Julie

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