The early morning bliss as I wait for dawn and Lakshmi to wake up. She was fast asleep when I got home last night. I took advantage of her visiting her sister in Hospital to spend a bit of time for myself in the gym and in the pool. It felt good. I need to find time to carry on doing this.
Lakshmi ended up staying with her parents for a few hours while her Appu went for his appointment. It gave her ample time to bond with the newborn. She was excited when she woke up from her evening slumber. Her first words being “Baby”. Although I couldn’t make out the rest. She’s been good these few days, entertaining herself with her many dolls, their pushchairs and feeding paraphernalia. She’s been role playing, feeding them, talking about changing nappies and taking them for walks.
As she woke up very late in the evening, we didn’t go back to bed till almost eleven. She didn’t resist when I said it was bedtime. After her normal bedtime routine she did her ‘goodnight John boy’ rounds. “Night night Appu, night night ammamma”. She grappled in the dark looking for her new fairy doll, which her nana’s friend knitted for her, ‘Dolly’ as she calls it. Once she found her, she fell asleep, possibly dreaming of her new baby sister.
In the morning we got ready to go to the hospital. As we reach the hospital car park, Lakshmi realises that we are at the Hospital and gets excited and asks for the baby. The baby is fast asleep and Lakshmi pinches Lavinia’s toy monkey and plays with it. She walks around quite excitedly and gets in the way of the midwives and doctors who come in to check the baby, asking them to excuse her as she squeezes past them and saying sorry when she brushes them. She is on her very best behaviour. We get news that they will be discharged later in the day and so we come home to do a bit of tidying up before the baby comes. They will be only staying the weekend.
It is late by the time they finally arrive. It is past Lakshmi’s bedtime but she stays awake to greet her baby sister. She introduces her to all her toys as soon as she arrives. Later on when she gets ready for bed Lakshmi start crying as she is tired. The baby follows suit. It’s the first time the baby has cried this vigorously. Lakshmi quietens down when she hears the baby crying. She says goodnight to everyone and is out for the count before I even put her down in her cot.
