Family Movies

About two weeks ago, Ava mentioned something that made me think she didn't realize that she was an only child for a few years. I think she thinks she and Liam were both always around each other. I thought that showing her some old family movies might make her realize that she was born earlier than Liam (29 months, to be exact).

I put in the video of Ava's birth and plopped down on the floor with her, in front of the t.v. She saw the video of her birth via c-section. It wasn't too graphic. I watched her face to see if she could handle watching something like that. She seemed completely fine and very interested. We watched video of them weighing her, measuring her. She saw Doug holding her hand (she held his finger) when they were attending to her, when she was first born. I think it was eye-opening to her and made her realize that we've always loved her, even when she couldn't talk, etc. She saw video of herself looking up at a mobile, laying in the living room floor. She saw Doug show "the baby's room" on video, as we prepared for her arrival.

After we watched that video, I showed her the video of Liam when he was born. She got to see herself sitting in my hospital bed, cuddling with me, while she ate my hospital cafeteria cake :-) and when she met Liam for the first time. She giggled. I think it put things in perspective for her. She saw how old she was when Liam was a new baby. She saw all of her grandparents on video when they came down to visit around both birthdays. I think it is always a good reminder to see how much we're loved by our family members, never to be discounted.

Peace, love and being the "big sister",
Shelly, Doug, Ava and little brother