Sweet siblings

I have treasured getting to know our two kids. I have learned in the months we have had Ellie just how distinctive those little personalities and tendencies are from day 1. Joshua has been such a terrific Big Brother; we have been pleasantly surprised with how he seems to enjoy Baby Sister. His morning greetings have grown into "sharing" toys with her. I think he realized she is a person like him and not a meerkat like the ones at the zoo. Joshua has attempted to give Ellie his plastic plane, which is nearly as big as she is. He also sweetly hands her the little plastic links we bought for her to explore. Ellie can actually grasp these now when I put them in her hand or she accidentally finds one. Joshua doesn't understand that, so he holds a link out to her for a while, and then just sets it on her when he gets impatient waiting for her to take it from him.:-) All in good time, my boy! Joshua also likes to start the music on Ellie's bouncy seat for her. Today, he wanted to show her the pictures in his book, so he stood right next to her face and held it open for her to see. Obviously, she didn't really respond, so he just put the book on her and moved on to something else. It will be so fun when she can interact with him more!

On the other hand, I was feeding Ellie yesterday, and Joshua wanted to sit with us in the recliner. I pulled him up next to me, and he promptly began shoving little Ellies feet and legs over so that he could hog the space. Later in the day, I sat down with Ellie near Joshua, and he came toward us. I thought he was going to sit next to me, but he sat ON Ellie's legs in my lap! I think it must have been an extra-needy-feeling-jealous kind of a day!