Piya's Perspective

Yesterday morning, I tried getting Caitlyn to nap in her crib for a bit after falling asleep in my arms.  Unfortunately, the transfer her woke her up.  I left the room for a moment with Caitlyn upset in her crib.  When I returned she was standing up with her hands on the railing.  Time to lower the mattress.

And now the real test of Simeon being a good big brother begins.  Caitlyn has quickly figured out that whatever brother is playing with is more interesting than any other toy available.  Yesterday, Simeon pulled out his laptop and was playing with it when Caitlyn crawled on over.  I hear ‘No! Mine!’ and look over to see Simeon trying to move away or push Caitlyn’s hands away.  I tell Simeon to move onto the couch where she can’t reach.  He does.  Two seconds later I hear ‘No! Mine!” again.  I look over and see Simeon trying to push Caitlyn’s hands off the couch as she tries to pull herself up.  I convince him that she won’t be able to interrupt his toy even if she stands up but we can easily see where things will be going in the near future.

I was talking to a mom yesterday about sharing between older and younger siblings.  It is very easy to tell the older sibling they need to share but then turn around and say another toy belongs to their younger sibling.  I do try to watch myself and keep a balance.  If Simeon is playing with a toy or reading a book and Caitlyn comes over, I try to redirect her.  If/when that fails, I try to remove her from the situation.  Similarly, if Caitlyn is playing with something and Simeon wants it, I tell him he needs to wait his turn and find something else.  Or, quite often I convince him he needs to give her something else in return.  And, if there happens to be multiple of an item, I try to get them both to share.  The next number of months should be quite interesting, as Caitlyn’s mobility continues to increase.