Siblings

My sister and I are eleven years apart and have different mothers so I pretty much consider myself an only child. I was eleven when she was born and as thrilled as I was to finally have a sibling, I was also very much distracted at the time by Michael Jackson, my new Walkman and finding the best lace leggings to go with my off the shoulder sweatshirt. So I am a novice to this sibling thing and here is a pair of them, in my very own house!

When Ellie was first born, Leo wasn’t all that interested. We taught him the sign for baby and pointed babies out to him every chance we could get when I was pregnant, but it wasn’t until she finally arrived that I think he “got” it. When he came to meet his little sister for the first time at the hospital he seemed interested in holding her. We helped him do so and he was fine for a few seconds until he wasn’t. Then he looked at me and then at her and said “bye.” He made his point.

Since Ellie has become mobile, things have really changed. First of all, Leo fascinates her. She watches him. She stares and studies him and seems both puzzled and amused. He does some very sweet things, like brings her toys (sometimes it seems like he is almost throwing them at her but I guess I should try to put a positive spin on it). He loves to feed her (see picture above). You have to give the guy credit since he's pretty much the only one who is able to get her to eat peas. He seems to enjoy being near her, but on his own terms. For example, the other day it appeared that he was sort of reading to her, and that was great. Until she had the nerve of trying to touch the book he was holding! And then began No! Mine! And the scooting away to the other side of the room away from said baby.

I hear myself and feel like a total cliché. Leo! Share with your sister. Leo, can you give Ellie some toys? Leo, can you let Ellie read that book? I feel kind of bad for the guy sometimes. Here he was, minding his own business as an only child and suddenly along comes this annoying little creature who wants to touch all his stuff AND keep his mom from spending as much, if any, one-on-one time. I think the benefits of having a sibling far outweigh the negatives, but it’s still something I think about a lot.

I hate to sound corny, but my heart swells at the above photos. Leo looks so grown up to me. And sweet. And I love the way Ellie looks at him. I swear it’s an expression she gives only to him. Whatever Leo is doing, Ellie wants to do. One of Leo’s favorite things to do is “organize” the DVDs. He just goes through each one methodically, looking at the covers and replacing them in neat stacks. Ellie seems to agree that this is a very interesting project. If Ellie could talk, I think she would be saying “Whatcha doin’?”

And did I mention that I still can’t believe there are two of them?