Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Zoya is a Big Sister!!

I've gotten so many comments/emails asking to please update on how Zoya is doing as her role of big sister! We've been a bit busy but I'll do a quick little update!

Zoya is doing far better than we anticipated. I thought since she is the center of our universe, she might have a little more trouble adjusting to baby sister Mila. When Zoya met her at the airport she just loved her instantly. She is constantly around her wanting to touch her and love her. She sometimes needs reminders to be gentle, but overall is doing fabulous. We have been trying to intentionally make extra one on one time with Zoya to make the transition smoother. We've regressed her a little bit in some areas, such as holding her more than normal, snuggling her, and baby talking with her. We even gave her her own bottle because she was so interested in Mila's and got upset when she couldn't have it. As soon as we gave her her own she didn't want it any more ;) Reverse psychology at it's finest!  She thinks the extra attention and treating her like a baby is funny and just eats it up. Some of you might be thinking why would we do this....one thing we found with Zoya is when change is present, or we are seeing anxiety, if we just regress her a tiny bit here and there she does fabulous. The first day home we noticed some whining and pouting and a few tears, but in all fairness to Zoya she was up late from the airport arrival and also sick. Hopefully this trend will continue and Zoya won't have any huge adjustment issues. I am thankful she is doing so well! I am so proud of our Zoya girl, she has dealt with all the changes from us being gone so long, all the way through sharing us with Mila. Having a baby really puts into perspecting how fast Zoya is growing up!

Usually when she comes home from school she runs right to her iPad and yells ELMO, because she knows if she had a good day at school she gets to watch Elmo. Well Shawn picked her up today and she came running in yelling "BABY!" She ran right over and was so excited to see Mila. She is still working on perfecting saying "Mila" so mostly she is calling her baby. Mila cried the other day and Zoya said "Mama, baby ba-ba." She could probably run the show if I needed to leave for a bit ;) Just kidding! Just as I thought Zoya is such a good helper. She will grab diapers or wipes, throw things out and even keep Mila entertained for a few minutes if I'm making a bottle!

*And after I typed all that Zoya kicked Mila and had the mother of all tantrums in time out. Ya win some, ya lose some....LOL!

Now what you all wanted to see....some sweet pictures of our beautiful daughters. We are so stinkin' blessed!

pretending she is a baby saying "sssshhhhhhh"




Practicing on the freaky life size doll (the doll is bigger than Mila LOL)


12 comments:

  1. Zoya you are a great help to Mommy with baby sister Mila.

    You keep up the good work!

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  2. AWWWWW......so glad to see your daughters TOGETHER at last!!! I have a feeling they are going to be best friends!!! Thank you for satisfying your readers' obsessions!! LOL! (((HUGS)))!

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  3. Ah yes sisterly love! We have the love/hate moments too! That freaky doll is hilarious!

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  4. How cute are they?! Thank you for taking the time to tell us about Zoya as the big sis. I knew she would be fabulous at the job. I'm sure whatever prompted the kicking thing will be alot less common than the Mama's little helper thing. :)
    The cutest part is her wanting to see the baby right after school instead of Elmo. I bet all her classmates have heard all about Mila. When I was born, my older brother had kids lined up at the door and he was charging them a nickel apiece to see his baby sister. ;)

    That doll is freaky. That thing has a giant head!

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  5. Those photos of sweet big sister Zoya and baby Mila are ADORABLE!! Thanks for sharing--AND for updating your readers--I know you must be sooo busy helping both little angels adjust!
    I know this may sound odd coming from a stranger but I was worried about Zoya, thinking that she might feel sad, displaced or jealous of sweet "jelly bean" Mila. I remember posts you wrote about Zoya's sweet soul and snuggling with her and the amazing love you all share and praying that she'd do just fine! Prayers are OBVIOUSLY being answered all over the place lol!
    Makes sense to me (not that it needs to lol) that you'd regress her a bit and giving her some extra time. I have anxiety myself (in part due to a trauma history) and so I can only imagine that must comfort Zoya and send her a strong message that she is as loved as ever! That is sooo obvious to your readers how much you and Shawn love both of your precious girls! God Bless!

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  6. Ahhh sisterhood, sometimes you love each other.. sometimes you kick the baby in the head...

    Dude, Zoya looks like a GIANT next to Mila. Now I get why you and Shawn kept saying "zoya, you got SO BIG" when you came home the first time!!!

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  7. How great to see pictures of your beautiful girls together! Sounds like Zoya is doing as well as any 3 year old with a new baby in the house:-)

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  8. Awww, they are so cute together! Wait until Mila starts walking (and running!) those 2 will make you very, very busy! :)Congrats!

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  9. How adorable they look together!!! Love it! :)

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  10. I love the new header, so cute! Mila looks BETTER already. I can't wait to see how she glows once her little heart is repaired.

    I love the way Zoya smiles, it's the cutest thing ever! So happy to read she is adjusting to her new little sister so well.

    Thanks for sharing... (been following both blogs)

    Continuing to remember your family in prayer!! :-)

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  11. Your girls are beautiful and seem to know each other already. Such sweet smiles. You did a great job preparing Zoya for her baby sister.
    I will pray hard for Mila's heart problems to be successfuly fixed.
    What a life you all have ahead of you.

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  12. Hey I just wanted to say congrats girl! SHE IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!! so happy for you guys!

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