Sibling dynamics are fascinating in our house. With so many in close proximity to each other, the developmental milestones crash over each other like waves. It's hard to keep track sometimes. Tonight was a clear one.
Sarah wasn't so big a fan of Simon when she first learned her new sibling wasn't a girl. In fact, she broke into tears.
We learned the gender in December 2008 (after 5 babies and innumeral ultrasounds....lets just say I spotted the marker before the ultrasound technician could tell us!)
We opted to share with the crew at Christmas and we told the children that Baby Jesus gave St Nicholas a note to put in Mommy's stocking about our new baby boy. Breaking int moans on Christmas morning, "but I realllllyyy wanted another sister" Sarah wasn't keen on this 4th brother thing. We hoped the intervening months would warm her heart to the idea.
You can see how happy she was to hold him in the hospital on his birthday April 3, 2009. Not exactly the picture of love.
Happily, once we explained to Sarah that not only did her brother share the first letter of her name "S", he also had exactly 5 letters in his first name like her. She asked for paper and wanted to know the letters so she could write them out.
So tonight, a new milestone in big sister/pseudo mommy wannabe Sarah's special relationship with Simon, now nearly 17 months. As I worked my way through the toothbrushing brigade, Simon kept barging into the bathroom. After 3 attempts to remove him from the scene, I gave up in frustration. Sarah said to me "Mom, maybe Simon wants to brush his teeth? He has 4 you know". Simon looked at Sarah, spit out his nuk and started grunting at the toothpaste tube! After rummaging about for an extra toothbrush of the proper size, softness and shape (convinced that our recent visit to the dentist had to have resulted in extra on had, the search proved fruitless in finding a small kid toothbrush), I settled on a Reach adult brush with soft bristles. By the time I found it Simon had caught on to Sarah's prompting "now Simon when you brush your teeth you can't swallow the toothpaste" and he was nearly bouncing for joy. What ensued was really quite sweet.
Our aspiring dental hygenist proved to me tonight, that milestone moments are like baby teeth in that they somehow break through when you aren't looking. Sarah, instead of needing help, is suddenly the helper and Simon the "baby" is ready for big kid things. It's like waiting on that tooth...the pain of waiting for it to happen seems like it will never end but suddenly you look and there it is, pushed up through the gum, shiny, tough and ready to go!
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