Sibling Interaction

Andrea finally seems to be taking notice of Kevin over the past few weeks. This is both good and bad.

The bad thing is that noticing him more also means being irritated by him and being jealous of him. Her irritations shows when he tries to touch her, or when he grabs one of her toys. Her response is to whine at him, or roughly push him away or snatch her toys out of his hands. "Sharing" and "Being Gentle" are two big themes in our household right now. Yesterday morning, we had another incident. Kevin was on the change table, and Andrea came to peek up at him. He laughed when he saw her, and he reached out to touch her face. Her response? She bit his finger! Argh. Of course he screamed with shock and pain, and Daddy and I were furious. After punishment and apologies, peace was restored, and she's been sweet as sugar to him since. It's always like that. I swear she has to get the violence out of her system once in a while, or something.

But it's not always so negative. One day, Kevin was playing with my hair. Andrea saw this, came running over, and yelled, "'evin, stop hurting Mama!" I had to laugh, and then explain to Andrea that we were playing, and he was being gentle. :)) I would have to say Andrea's jealousy comes out in a harmless way, at least. When I've got Kevin in my arms, she'll say things like, "He go to bed" or "He go in his chair" or "He go to swing." Basically, she just wants to put him on the sidelines! :)) Also, if one parent is paying attention to Kevin, she'll run to the other one and be all cuddly and affectionate. If I'm holding Kevin, she'll say, "That's 'evin's Mama," and then run over to Rod, give him a huge hug, and declare, "That's Andrea's Dada!" and vice versa.

The positive interactions between Andrea and Kevin are heartwarming. :)) She'll stop and talk to him every now and then, pointing out something she's doing or discussing what he might be trying to do. She also knows which items are Kevin's, and takes great pride in bringing them to him--his blankets, his slippers, his bottles, his toys, etc. Every once in a while, she'll bring him one of her toys and let him hold it for a bit, before she remembers, "It's mine!" and grabs it back. She even brought him her Dora one day. She held Dora in front of him, and made her dance. He laughed, and she said, "Here, your turn 'evin--hold her!" I couldn't believe it! Naturally, Kevin's turn lasted about 5 seconds, but that was a huge gesture, coming from Andrea. We all know Dora's her favourite doll.

Kevin, of course, thinks Andrea is the most entertaining thing around. All she has to do is walk close by him, and he starts to giggle. If she is excited, he gets excited! If she is talking to him, or being silly, he laughs hysterically. I think Andrea's going to have a little tag-a-long once Kevin starts to walk!

I got a video of Andrea entertaining Kevin during his dinner the other night. She always likes to crawl under his high chair while I'm feeding him, and it's quite the distraction . . . but Kevin thinks that's hilarious. She also hides in the blinds and plays peek-a-boo with him (which I always tell her not to do, but she does it anyway!). Anyway, I wanted to point out that: 1. Kevin is fully strapped in to his high chair, even though it looks like he's leaning right out! and 2. Kevin isn't laughing hysterically like he usually does, but it gives you the idea. :))

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P.S. Speaking of Kevin leaning out of chairs--he crawled right out of his bouncy chair the other day, and did a face-plant on the carpet. He cried, but wasn't really hurt. I thought, if I make sure he's strapped in tightly, it will be okay, right? Nope. Tonight, at dinner, he leaned over so far in his bouncy chair that he was hanging upside-down . . . held in by the straps. Yep, I guess he's outgrown that one! No crawling yet, but goodness, that child rolls and flips himself like it's nothing!