Big Brother Love

Owen is in love with his little sister. And I mean IN LOVE.

It started right from Day 1 when Owen would get terribly upset if she cried. He's gotten over that now, and just covers his ears. But in the early days he would become frantic that I do something - feed her, get her to sleep, pick her up - whatever it takes, please don't let her cry!!

Their relationship was solidified when Alex was just a few weeks old. She was incredibly fussy and hated to be put down. I was pumping for 15 minutes after every feed, which was really hard when you have a screaming baby that you cannot hold. I had put her on her mat and was pumping. She was crying. Owen said "Mama, I think she wants to suck on your finger. Can she suck on my finger?" I thought of where those 4 year-old fingers might have been... "OK - wash them really well - WITH SOAP - and you can try." He sat there for the whole 15 minutes while she happily sucked on his finger. Boy, was he proud that he could keep her from crying for so long.

Each and every day that I drop him off at daycare (Alex in tow, of course) he runs in and asks his teachers to 'come see his baby'.

He is so proud of her developmental milestones - announcing them to the neighbours, friends, and family. "She rolled over today!! My baby can roll over!!"

He likes to watch her on the 'Alex TV', the new baby video monitor we have and cannot wait to run into her room to see her smile after a nap.

This morning he asked if she could sleep with him. How cute is that?

In return, Alex saves her biggest smiles for Owen. She follows him with her eyes everywhere he goes. Her first laugh was at him (which also made him very proud) and frankly, he is the only one who can consistently make her laugh.

Here I was worried that he might resent her or be jealous of the attention she gets. Not at all so far. Of course, she can't move yet... perhaps there will be some discontent once she can get into his lego. We shall see - but the foundation is surely strong.