Naptime these days

Back in the day when Joshua and Ellie had separate rooms, we could easily count on a 3 hour nap time. They didn't necessarily both sleep that long, but both kids were happy and relatively quiet in their rooms... often asleep! Then, they began sharing a room. For a few weeks there was very little sleeping. We figured out that some sleep might occur if Ellie had a chance to fall asleep before Joshua joined her. Enter Lanie into our family... and add a couple of months and some more awake stamina to Ellie. Now, I put Ellie in bed, return to remind her to put-her-head-on-her-pillow-and-don't-touch-the-curtains, and EVENTUALLY send Joshua into bed. While we wait for Ellie to fall asleep, Lanie is usually awake for a little while. Joshua creates a nice little set-up for her with toys surrounding her, and he sits and reads to her or flips through cards with her. In the picture, she is playing with Elmo while she learns the alphabet. So sweet!

Sibling love

All ready for bed! Joshua and Ellie are great with Lanie. For the first month or so, we never could quite time the evenings, so Lanie often fussed through our entire bedtime routine. Ellie and Joshua are pretty patient with her. They like to pat her and give her toys to make her happy.

Roomies!

As soon as Thanksgiving passed, we shifted gears drastically. Time to get ready for Christmas, and time to get ready for our newest family member! David had to work the day after Thanksgiving, and he surprised us with our first real Christmas tree! It makes me smile every time I come in the house to smell the fresh pine. We moved Ellie into Joshua's room, and the transition has been pretty smooth. They absolutely love it... maybe a little too much! I was nervous about making the move before my class was over. It's true, it was a distraction, but a very pleasant one. I had to work hard not to sit and listen to the radio show that inevitably took place during each nap time. Ellie had brief struggles the first few times she went to bed in her new room, and Joshua was a very sweet big brother to comfort her after I closed the door. Now, they laugh hysterically and throw their socks and stuffed animals around the room for as long as they can stand it! I went in yesterday to find Ellie with no pants on in the freezing room. As David puts it, she "hits the deck" when she hears that door open.

And just like that... SIBLINGS!

During a single day this week, Joshua and Ellie introduced to me the next phase of "siblinghood." Joshua asked to feed Ellie, and he sat next to her and put food on her tray as I cut it up. He kept saying, "Here you go, Ellie!" It was so precious. Fast forward a few hours later, and we had another first: Joshua's first time to be disciplined for hurting his sister intentionally. I hope it won't take too many tries to learn that lesson!

Mommy's Little Helper

Joshua loves to help me with things. He is very sweet about giving Ellie toys and playing with her. Sometimes Joshua is actually helpful; other times, I smile and remind myself that he is being very sweet as I restrain myself from discouraging his efforts. (Picture bath time: Making sure Ellie isn't about to fall over or eat peeling paint or get pelted by the generosity of her brother giving her "many toys!")

Helpful and hurtful

Ellie has been sitting well by herself, but I still like to put a pillow or two around her if I am going to be up and about while she is playing on the floor. I guess the other day I forgot to put the pillows out, so Joshua did it for me. Only, why stop at two pillows when there are five pillows in the room? I thought it was very sweet that he laid them out for Ellie. As I was praising his gesture, he snatched the giraffe right out of her hand. I considered taking a picture of the face that followed, but I thought it would be too mean. If you have ever been around Ellie when her feelings are hurt, you know the face!

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!