Big Brother Class

Last night we brought the boys to "big brother class" at the hospital we are delivering at. I have been so excited for this since we signed up months ago. The boys have been pretty excited too! Richard thought I should stay home on the couch, but I convinced him to let me come with and promised I would let him push me around in the wheelchair so we did.

The boys were supposed to bring a baby or stuffed animal with to class for the demonstration. Elijah brought his beloved "Elsie" (the puppy he sleeps with each night) and Jonah brought Pooh bear.

The "teacher" (a nurse) talked with all the kids about what to expect when the baby is born and when the baby first comes home. She did an excellent job covering all the topics from the baby's soft spot, to having tired parents from being up all night with feedings, to the umbilical cord falling off to reveal the belly button.

Here are all the kids listening to the teacher

After covering the basics on a newborn, each child got a diaper and a bottle for their baby or animal they brought with. The teacher showed them all how to hold the baby, making sure to support their neck and how to feed the baby a bottle and burp them after. Then each child practiced on their baby or animal they brought.

Elijah was trying to diaper Elsie by himself here and eventually asked for help...

...here he is getting some help with it. Jonah had it down pretty quickly!

After this part of class we all went up to the labor and delivery unit and the teacher talked about the labor and delivery room, the bed, the crib the baby would be in and the warmer bed. Then they brought a real baby to show us! The boys thought that was pretty special.

It was so fun to watch them during the class. They were very interested in learning all about how to be a big brother and it made me teary eyed watching them diaper, feed and burp their animals. It was fun thinking about how it won't be much longer before they can practice what they have learned on their new baby brother or sister!

When we got home from class they wanted to change their animals diapers over and over, feed them bottles and put them to bed! It was adorable! I didn't think they would get into it as much as they did. They also woke up first thing this morning and did the same thing. I actually got in trouble for talking too loud because their babies were sleeping and I was going to wake them up!

Here is a fun picture of the boys showing me what they learned! (I am afraid Elijah missed the part about supporting the head well during a feeding, we might have to work on that)

Two proud big brothers anxious to meet Bruce!

I had to include this one for Bruce to look back someday and see that Elijah really was excited for him or her to come! He informed me that he was going to be able to feed the baby a bottle after learning how in his class, but wasn't changing any poopy diapers! He did say he would throw the wet ones in the garbage for me though. Either way he was truly excited to be a big brother and this was a HUGE milestone in my opinion!

I can't say I am convinced he will be as excited when the real deal is here, but oh well! Baby steps right? It will be interesting to see how "helpful" they are when the baby is here too. Either way, I am sure their will NEVER be a dull moment around our house!