the princess reigns

And here she is, in all her glory! :)  Things are getting better - I'm learning how to handle Vincente AND a newborn at the same time. It's hard when we're out and I have to already focus on something else and Joseline, and then Vincente wants my attention (like today getting our car insurance set up 8-o ) but it's getting better. We've also decided to start ingnoring Vincente when he cries out of frustration. He was getting really good at "using his words" as we call it, instead of crying when he was mad/sad/needed help/etc. Then Joseline came along, and suddenly it's like he went backward. I think it's because Joseline gets attention right away when she cries, so it should work for him, too, right? Yeah - newborn baby cries are much less annoying than two-year-old-who-can-talk cries. Vincente has amazing language skills, especially for a bi-lingual kid. He can express himself pretty well in either language. He has the vocabulary (and know-how) to ask for help, for something to eat, for exactly what he wants to eat, to play, to go outside, etc.

Anyway, so on Sunday we decided to start the ignoring-the-cry game. Wow, it's hard. We used to say "Vincente, please use your words," when he would start crying, but I believe that reacting to his crying/tantrum throwing at all has just reinforced it. So now we don't even say anything. To balance out the ignoring, we're trying to be extra mindful of paying attention to him when he's not crying. Just talking to him more, holding him more, playing with him more, etc. All in all I think we're doing an okay job. He cries less, after only three days of "ignoring" and when he does start to cry, he stops within a few minutes. Having a little sister around is really hard for him - especially beacuse she's so little and helpless. He doesn't like that we help her more than we help him. I think they'll get a long great once she's old enough to do some things on her own (and once she develops speech or sign language skills enough that we expect her to cry less, too). 

It's been really nice to have our family grow. I think it's great for Vincente to have a sibling, even if it's a rough adjustment right now. I've been waiting for him to have to share our attention with someone. None of our other children will get to feel what it's like to have Mamãe and Papai to themselves every day. I've been worried about Vincente spending too much time as an only child. And I love loving more babies. Sometimes I think I worried about being able to love all my babies, but it's amazing how your heart grows to fit in your new family member. I didn't have to stretch my heart to fit around my whole family - it's like it grew extra appendages so it could reach all the way around. I really really love my babies - all three of them ;) Even the one that's 6'4". They are the loves of my life and I don't know what I would do without all of them. My beautiful family - I love them SOOOO much!