Growing Into This Sibling Thing

When I was throwing a load of laundry in the machine the other day, Abbey came downstairs practically in tears.  When I asked her if she was ok, she replied in frustration, "Mommy, Dylan won't listen to me!  I want him to put the food in the cart, and he won't listen."  Well, now she knows how Ryan and I feel, right?

And so goes the story of a big sister and little brother figuring out how to play together.  When Dylan first came home, she went back and forth between loving on him and ignoring him; she recently went through a phase where she made it her mission to push him off of any toy he managed to get into his little hands.  Now, she's decided (most days at least) that she wants him to be able to play with her. 

For the most part, that involves them laughing at each other, since he's too young to really "play" with most of her toys.  She gets excited about the silliest things; at bedtime tonight, he was standing and holding onto the side of the bathtub, and she couldn't stop laughing.  On his end, he find every single thing she does enchanting and beyond hilarious.  He could laugh at her all day.

And I could watch them in that silly state the rest of my life.

"Mommy, I will wear my big sister hat to the park.  Put on Dylan's little brother hat.  Please."

oh, and it definitely was not raining

asserting his independence and ripping it off immediately

poor little bald guy needs a hat and despises them

after a nap, he was more amenable to wearing the hat

she is so happy he is able to swing with her

he likes swinging so much and holds on like a pro

(even though I only push him about three inches in either direction)

kicking off the rain boots

watching Abbey go "higher, Mommy, higher!"