This is What True Joy Looks Like

Holding his hours-old granddaughter for the first time.

My boyfriend welcomed his third grandchild into the world. This little lady, much like her mother and rough-and-tumble brothers, already has him wrapped around her little finger. The twinkle in his eyes and the contented smile on his face make my heart melt. Mother and baby are doing fine, and she and her husband were thrilled to add this little princess to their family.

It will be interesting to see what kinds of things this little girl will grow up enjoying. Her brothers are ALL boy. Their world is dominated by the things little boys love ... cars, trucks, balls, worms, and dirt. In my mind, I picture a very girly-girl who will be able to hold her own around the boys! 

The younger of her older brothers doesn't quite grasp the concept of what "a new baby sister" means, and is more interested in snuggling with his Mommy than the baby, but the older boy is pretty excited to have a little sister. His reaction to this new baby is the complete opposite of his less-than-thrilled attitude to a new little brother a few years back! Back then, he viewed siblings as nothing but a rival for his Mom's attention. Now he loves his brother and sees how wonderful it is to have your best friend living just down the hall, and so he's overjoyed to have another buddy thrown into the mix!

The happy big brother.

As a mom of three myself, I know exactly what this new mother is going to go through. Intellectually and mathematically, three kids is just one more than two, but it feels like a whole lot more than that! And for a while, there will be more meltdowns and tantrums than she's seen in a while ... but before long, a new normal will emerge. She'll forget how much labor hurt and how hard it was with two active boys and a new baby girl ... and she'll start thinking about how nice it would be to add another little friend to her growing brood!