Kids Being Kids

From one of my favorite blogs, Shoved to Them relates a story about her unborn baby's first encounter with a big brother:

I had my monthly OB appointment yesterday with my midwife. This time, I took the 4 youngest Little Kids with me. The eldest was off doing some kind of Irish dance performance or something with her two best friends. She missed seeing #6. We didn't. Lucky us!

#5 freaked out a bit in the exam room. He doesn't like "new", and was on the verge of tears the entire time. I tried to explain that she was the nice lady who delivered him, and that it would be okay. He's 23 months old and didn't seem to care. I finally sat him up on the exam table next to me and he calmed down a bit...

Then came the midwife with the ultrasound machine. (Hooray!) The children all piled around me to get their first peek at our littlest one.

It was clearly sleeping. Nestled in peacefully and curled up in the fetal position. Then the machine beeped and #5 screamed.

#6 threw its arms wide in the classic infant startle. Then, the little hands flew instinctively up to cover the ears from a big brother's offensive racket.

The little face turned towards the direction of the crying brother, and it's mouth opened slightly. Then, its chin began to quiver. Clearly, obviously crying.

Awakened from a nap, scared, and disturbed, our sweet #6 cried. Undeniably sobbed while holding hands tightly over tiny ears.

We all laughed at the sweet humanity of the moment which only made my two babies cry harder. 17 weeks into pregnancy. Barely 4 months. Hearing. Responding. Displaying emotion. Reacting logically. A blob of tissue? Product of conception? No. Thinking, feeling, emoting. Human.