The day we saw our son's face

Paul and I first saw pictures of Ren on Monday, September 29 shortly after 12 noon. Paul and I had hoped to be together when we saw our son's photos for the first time but we ended up opening the electronic images separately while we spoke on the phone.

I think one of the first things Paul said was, "He looks like me!" My main thoughts centered around how beautiful he is and how bright and alert his eyes are.

After Claire's nap, I dragged her to a nearby scenic spot to photograph the beauty of the river valley. It was a gorgeous, unseasonably warm, fall day - the temperature actually rose as high as 26.9 degrees Celsius - and I couldn't help thinking it was definitely weather befitting such a memorable day.

We weren't able to speak to our pediatrician about the referral until late the night of September 30 so we held off on telling Claire about her new little brother just in case there were any surprises. The morning of October 1, we finally told her and showed her his pictures. In a previous post, I mentioned how she said "aw" when she saw each picture. Here are a few photos of Claire perusing her younger brother's pictures.

I think it'll take a few days for Claire to fully accept the name Ren. We had been calling our hypothetical child James for several months. Since we weren't totally sold on the name, we didn't mind letting it go in favour of Ren. However, when we told Claire about the new name and said that's what we'd call her brother from now on, she said, "Little bit James" as if to suggest that we have to allow some margin for error on her part. And sure enough, every now and then she slips and says James instead.

Right after we showed Claire Ren's pictures, Paul began explaining to Claire how she, as the big sister, could teach her little brother things, such as what a sheep looks like and what sounds various animals make. Claire's face took on a very serious look and suddenly she blurted out, "Mama Daddy help me too!" At that, we realized she thought it was her sole responsibility! Poor kid. We quickly assured her it was Mommy and Daddy's jobs to teach Ren everything but she could help if she would like. That seemed much more agreeable to her!