Baby Zuri – the woes and wows!
It has definitely been different these past few days. Ami is home now and he seems to be fussier than Zuri was at his age. He cries a lot more too! I love the new bundle of joy and he is such a beautiful baby, but I am having a hard time sleeping at night.
Ami weighed 3.75kgs at birth, that’s a pretty big baby, and he’s much taller than Zuri was at that age. He is not as light though and he did not get jaundice which means that he came home earlier than Zuri did. He’s about two weeks old now and things are starting to get interesting.
Zuri was so excited when Ami came home. In fact, she was excited all through my sister’s pregnancy! She loved kissing and hugging baby a lot when he was still in the womb and she talked to him also. Of course it was baby talk, but I am pretty sure they understood each other. It would seem that they bonded quite a bit especially since Zuri loves other babies.
When Ami was born, Zuri visited him in the hospital and even brought him home! She gave him such a warm welcome and must have kissed him about a thousand times. It has been the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed.
But now to the interesting part! It would seem that the welcome lasted only a few days, then Zuri realized baby Ami is here to stay. Not only is he using her old blankets and clothes, he is taking away all her affection Everyone, her mum and dad, aunties and visitors too, are hovering over him. Poor Zuri feels abandoned and is crying out for attention.
I love my niece and want to play with her, but I am a Sanguine.
I do not know if you have dealt with a Sanguine before, but we like new shiny things! Anything we haven’t had before is always more interesting and exciting than the most precious old item we own. Need I say more about what I feel about the new shiny baby? He is that shiny new toy I just got from the store. I am having the time of my life with this ‘toy’ at the expense of my old, beautiful but old one!
My sister says I should give more attention to Zuri as she is more aware of her surroundings and it will hurt her more if I do not concentrate on her. I totally understand the concept, but it’s like a punishment. I feel like my sister is trying to take away from me that new toy.
Anyway, whining aside, there are other experiences I have had these past two weeks. I am back to the sleepless routine and it is not just because Ami wakes me up. Zuri had to move out of her parent’s room a few months a go to create space for Ami. We share a room now and we’ve been having the best of times, we sleep well through the night though some nights she wakes me up and asks for ‘asiwa’ (milk) then goes back to sleep.
Now with Ami in the area, things aren’t so rosy anymore. He rarely sleeps at night which means we all have to wake up due to his crying – trust me, he’s that loud! But that is not the only issue. Remember when I told you Zuri can sleep through anything? Well, apparently we found an antidote to that sleep; Ami! Every time he cries, Zuri wakes up and cries. I am yet to discover if it is the crying that irritates her and wakes her up or if it reminds her he is still around and she gets depressed that her attention has yet again been taken away! This reminds me, there is an also attention-seeking moment as well.
We have realized that Zuri is not too pleased with the situation and so is unable to enjoy herself. So, I have set aside Zuri and Aunt Cynthia moments as well as things we share together. For example, we have our own chair which we sit in together and watch television, especially in the evenings. We sing together and she sits at the table while having breakfast like a grown up. I also take her to sleep and sometimes give her a bath, though whenever I give her a bath, we both wind up wet.
It feels great to be an aunt all over again. It makes me-a little more responsible and gives me special memories to treasure. The moments are reducing because I spend a lot of time in school. As far Zuri, her mother tells me that every Thursday’ night, she starts asking for me.It is like she is aware that I will be coming the following day. It makes me wonder if and how children can tell the day and time. She even knows the time her father should be coming home, yet we adults tend to forget the day of the week
She is learning my name now. I believe it is ‘ati titia’ (Aunt Cynthia) and I like it a lot. It has special meaning to me because am the only ati titia in the whole world. In fact, I think I may be the only aunt in her head in the whole world; talk of being unique.
As for my beloved Ami, we are yet to get to know each other. I hope he doesn’t have a temper like his sister’s. She once screamed at me for not coming over one weekend. She hadn’t learnt how to speak yet, so she screamed at me for about half an hour. I have made sure not to be on the receiving end of her temper again.
Well, back to my usual aunt moments again. Zuri is taking me to school this Sunday, so I am rather excited. She is not going all the way to Athi River, it’s too dusty for her, but she will escort me to our town campus for me to board the bus. I think we’ll have a blast! I wonder when Ami will be old enough to do the same.
END: BL37/38-39