Sibling Interactions

I'm an only child.  It was not by choice.  I begged my parents for a brother or sister.  They knew better.  More to the point they said no.  Was it because I was perfect and they knew a second child could only be a disappointment after me?  Were they horrified at having at the prospect that the second child would turn out to be worse than I was?  We may never know.  They stayed firm, ignoring my pleas for a sibling so I grew up knowing nothing of siblings, but having all the benefits of being an only child.  It was a good childhood.

As a result though, when I see my children interact with each other it's sometimes funny, usually interesting and frequently surprising. 

This morning my son (seventeen months) brought over a xylophone to my daughter (six months) and showed her how you take the mallet and bang on it.  Then he handed the mallet to her.  She took it and waved it around.  He's brought her things before, but never showed how to use them. 

He also likes to sit on her, hug her aggressively, drag her around, hold her hand and be close to her.  He'll probably start repeating, "careful" and "gentle"  to us as he hears them all day long.

Not only is she tolerant of him doing all sorts of things to her, she's interested in him.  She watches what he's doing and he's interested in where she is and what she's playing with.  He even understands that she's learning (I suspect) because just before nap time she reached out, grabbed two fistfuls of his hair and pulled him to her.  He calmly let her examine the hair in what looked like an uncomfortable position and when she let go he looked back at her.  No fuss.

The Big Boy Update:  Sticky paws.  Everywhere.  And yet, invisible.  But when he's changed, there's a mirror above the changing table.  He likes to look at himself in the mirror and babble and put his hands all over the mirror.  It is frightening how much goo gets on the mirror.   Need more hand washing or a more tidy baby.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Bouncing.  She's sitting up better each day.  She's starting to do the little bounce thing where she raises her arms and bounces a little bit when she swings them down.  Some babies can move forward with a bounce like this.  Just now, she's trying to get to a toy just out of her reach.  I don't know if she's going to make it but she's trying something fierce.