How the kids reacted

Since I have the full-on all-day sickness now I’m feeling pretty safe, so we told the kids tonight. We didn’t announce that I’m pregnant, cause I figured that wouldn’t mean anything to Kaely. What we said was that next year, at the end of summer, we would be having another baby.

Liam said “Yay!”

Mikaela said (copying Liam) “Yay!” and “It’s going to be Riley!”

Riley is the name both of Liam’s friend from school, who we were meant to have a playdate with this week but haven’t, and one of my best friends’ babies. It’s not going to be Riley!

Kaely then wondered off, and Liam started asking things like “How do you know you are pregnant?” and “How do you know when the baby will be born?”

Later I asked Mikaela if she knew where babies grow, and she said “At Auntie P’s house!” (My sister was visiting recently from Melbourne, with her eight month old). I said, well, Charlie grew there, at which point she interrupted to say “And Riley!” (Yes, she really does talk like that with an exclaimation point after just about every sentence.) So then I explained about babies growing in their mother’s belly, which she took in stride because she already knew (because Liam told her) that she and Liam grew in my belly. But she didn’t show any interest in the idea that there might be a tiny weany baby in there now. I guess it’s just a bit too hard for her to comprehend at the moment, which is what I expected.

I was pretty pleased with Liam’s completely spontaneous response though, because there have been times in the past year when he’s said he didn’t want any more babies in the family, ever!

Will Mikaela wean?

I’ve been assuming that when/if I finally fell pregnant, Mikaela would probably wean. Not right away, necessarily, but most likely by ten weeks. That’s when Liam weaned, and I was complete ready for it. Not only was he down to only one feed a day generally anyway, but he was nearly four, and my nipples were getting really sore.

That last part may be reproduced with this pregnancy, in which case given another month or two I may be more than ready for Kaely to wean. But at the moment I have to admit the idea makes me a little sad. She’s three, which you might think is more than old enough. But the fact is the world wide average weaning age is four, and given how much she still likes it, I completely get that.

It is a really special time for us every night in the rocking chair in her bedroom. But it is also a nice way to reconnect when I’ve been out, and a great comfort when she’s been hurt or upset.

Look, I’m not saying it’s never a pain. Just as “Muu-ummy!” can become annoying, so can “I want Mummy-milk!” But overall it’s still a very special part of our relationship that I don’t feel quite ready to give up yet. Particularly because I don’t think she’s ready to give it up.