Siblings

I watched my children playing together today and all I could really think was.. yes, this. At 15 months, Noah is more able to play with his big sister than ever before. Of course he still "messes up" her elaborate set-ups with small animals and houses and dinning tables and beds and food and whatever else, but.. he's a toddler. She yells "noAH!" at him, but I tell her "he didn't do it on purpose, he just wants to play with you" and she usually calms down. Ah, siblings. How amazing must it be to have a live-in playmate..

I do have a half-sister, but I haven't seen her since I was 7, so I don't know how much of a bond we ever had. Whatever it was then, I hardly remember now. Sad. But my goodness do my children ever look like they have fun together- even at these early ages.

Noah walked before his first birthday; I really believe it was so he could better keep up with his sister. He runs around the house now, chasing her, screaming with delight. Actually, they both scream like that. And he ate his birthday cake with a fork. Probably because Lily did.

They each have their own toys- sort of. But it's really more like we just have a ridiculous amount of things to play with because they both play with everything. Everything- whether it's dinosaurs or dolls. The dinosaurs were originally Lily's, but Noah really took a liking to them. There are baby and toddler toys that were bought for Noah, but Lily often plays with them more.

Of course, being three years older, Lily occasionally gets a little rougher with Noah than she should, but I can't imagine the two of them could love each other any more than they already do. Aand.. most of the time he doesn't seem to mind too much when she acts like a four year-old. Except when she snatches something away from him.. then those baby tears of his come out in full force.

I just hope that there isn't ever jealousy between them. Having little experience in a sibling relationship, I think I way over compensate for every possible thing with Lily and Noah. I work so hard to acknowledge everything that they both do. Each milestone that Noah reaches, I make sure I say that yes, Lily can do that too. It probably makes me sound crazy to get excited that my four year-old is walking (too), but I think she likes it. And wouldn't you? Hey, look at you.. walking from one side of the room to the other! Good job, you! Woah, using a fork?! Awesome..