Siblings

For the most part, the kids all get along very well. Reese and Aidan are usually smothering Gretchen in kisses and hugs causing her to fuss. While I try to remind them that she needs her space and that they wouldn't want somebody in their face all the time, I am so glad that they are so in love with their little sister!

While they get along well, Aidan and Gretchen really know how to push each other's buttons and Gretchen can hold her own against her older brother! She is intrigued by his cars and always trying to take them from him. Aidan gets mad and will try to take them away from her. Gretchen does not give in easily though! I have seen her take a bite at him or even ram her head at him to thwart his attacks.

Gretchen may be able to fight back against her big brother, but she is no match for her older sister! Whenever Gretchen is getting into something that she should not be or is generally annoying her big sister, Reese picks her up and places her in her bumbo seat. Gretchen is then stuck in the seat until somebody lets her out, but that doesn't stop her from trying to get out on her own!

Only Brother

Yesterday I took the day off work for Randy's surgery. Since Reese was not sick and did not have any reason to miss school, I took her to school while Aidan and Gretchen stayed home. I cleaned most of the morning while Aidan played and Gretchen cooed. They kept themselves entertained and I was not constantly breaking up fights! We headed into town about 10 and dropped Randy off and then ran a few errands while we waited. While at HyVee, our first stop, Aidan commented how it was nice without "Reesey" and I kind of had to agree. We got a kids shopping cart and Aidan was driving by himself and I did not have to yell at anyone to quit fighting or keep their hands to themselves. After getting a few supplies for cookie making, we decided to go get lunch. We went to the McDonalds play place and there happened to be another little boy about Aidan's age. They were playing very well together when I overheard Aidan tell the other little boy, "I wish that my sister was here." Again, I had to agree.
Recently, Reese began referring to Aidan as her "little bother", just like Nickelodeon's Olivia does to her little brother. As she has started school, their relationship seems to be even more difficult. Reese is growing and wants her privacy and time alone, while Aidan is so intrigued by all the things that she is learning and doing and wants to be involved in it. Although they fight the majority of the time that they spend together, I do believe that they really do love each other. It's things like their time apart yesterday that reveal their true feelings and the special bond they share.
As the only boy between 2 girls, I think that Aidan is going to have a lot of skills in dealing with women when he gets to the age to start dating. In another instance yesterday as we were walking through the mall, another shopper said, "Oh look, he is playing with her hair!" I had put Aidan in the back of the double stroller as he requested, so Gretchen was in front of him. He had leaned forward in his seat, with his arm resting on the seat back and rubbing his sister's head and playing with her hair. He has done this often since she was born and it always melts my heart because I know that he truly loves and cares for his little sister. I just feel sorry for any of her potential boyfriends, because I think that he is going to be pretty protective of his little sister.

Let me show you what I can do!

While riding home from swim lessons the other day, Reese started showing me how she could make each of the letter sounds. Apparently Aidan felt left out because he interrupted with, "Mommy, I know things too! A, B, C, D, E, F, G!" and he continued to sing the alphabet. They both have a little bit of a competitive side!

Favoritism

The other day Reese and I were talking and out of the blue she says, "Remember how I didn't even get a cake on my birthday because you were at the hospital getting baby Gretchen out of your stomach." I reminded her that we did not have cake on her birthday but we did go to Happy Joe's for pizza and an ice cream sundae the night before and threw a giant Tangled themed bash the day after I got home from the hospital. Though she admitted that both events were fun it was just not acceptable that we did not have a cake on her actual birthday! And so it begins!

Mother Hen

We finally got to go home from the hospital today with baby Gretchen, and Reese immediately showed that she is ready for her role as big sister. As soon as daddy pulled up to the doors of the hospital, Reese grabbed up the carseat and started to carry her little sister to the car. Though she seemed to have a hold of the carseat pretty well, I broke it to her gently that she could not carry the carseat. We got Gretchen into her seat and then quickly loaded all of our bags and belongings into the trunk. When I returned to the car to buckle the kids into their seats, I found Reese situated in the middle of the backseat, so that she could keep an eye on her baby sister. As we drove away, Reese kept me informed of everything that Gretchen was doing. At one point Gretchen started crying and Reese began to sing a song that she made up as she went. I was so proud listening to her singing about her sister being a beautiful girl and telling her to go to sleep. When we got home, she wanted to immediately get Gretchen out of her seat and into her bed. I convinced her to leave her be since she was already sleeping and asked her to help me get some things organized around the house. She gladly helped me to go through all of her old baby clothes and sort them by type (onesies, dresses, pajamas, outfits). When we were finished with that, she also helped me to get out and clean all of the bottles and feeding items. We finally left the house the other day to get a few groceries. All three kids were sitting in the backseat and again Reese was more than happy to help out. She started again by giving me a report of every move that Gretchen made. Then she decided that Gretchen was too warm with her blanket covering her. Two minutes later, she was cold and needed the blanket back. Then she started to cry, so I gave Reese the bottle and asked her if she could feed her. Aidan was devastated that he did not get to help, but was satisfied that he could give her the binky when she finished her bottle. Gretchen did not eat the bottle very well, so Reese gave it back. Then she started to cry again and Reese wanted to try the bottle again. She just had to be doing something with Gretchen the entire ride into town. Randy and I have been wondering what to expect of the car trip we have planned to Indiana (6 hours away) to see family in a few weeks. I'm almost thinking that we could go without any of our usual road trip paraphernalia (video games, movies, crayons, books and toys) because the kids will be so busy watching, playing with and helping with taking care of Gretchen.

Family

The kids have been fighting like crazy lately, so this cute little sign of affection proved to me that deep down they really do love each other!

The other night, Aidan was pretending that we were a family of birds from the movie "Rio."

Aidan: "Mommy will be the mommy bird, Reese can be the sweetheart, I will be the boy and daddy will be a boy."

I thought that it was so cute that Aidan called her the sweetheart and not just a girl! It was also rather hilarious that daddy is just another boy rather than a daddy. Sometimes I think that Randy takes on more of a disciplinary role than I do, so to have Aidan label him as a boy, made me think that he thinks of him more as a friend and equal, whereas calling me the mommy shows that he knows and understands my role as a caretaker. Though this may not be the truth at all because you never quite know what these kids are thinking!

No kisses!

Every night as we are tucking the kids into bed, Reese jumps into Aidan's bed and pins him down to give him a kiss. While she is doing that he is giggling and yelling, "no kisses, no kisses!" The other night he had had enough. After Reese planted a big smooch on his cheek and took off for her own room, he sat up and declared, "That's crap!"

Competitive Spirit

Randy's aunt Linda has started a game with the kids where she playfully teases them that she beat them wherever we may see her. When we went to Indiana recently, they accompanied us on the trip. When we ran into each other in the lobby, Linda would point her finger at the kids and say, "I beat you here!" The kids would do the same to her and it would continue back and forth. This past week at the fair, whenever we arrived at the meeting point, Linda would start with the game and the kids playfully joined in.

Recently, Aidan got out his cell phone and I could only assume that he was calling Aunt Linda because he said, "I beat you here!"

The game has made lots of things a competition at home. Whichever kid finishes eating a meal first, proudly announces, "I beat you!" On the way up to naps in the afternoon and bed in the evening, the kids race each other up the stairs. Though I am not very fond of the race through meal time, but I am definitely not going to complain about their willingness to go to bed!

Showing Concern

Last night we went swimming at grammy's. Grammy was guiding Aidan around the pool in his floatie and they were "crashing" into people and things. When he crashed into me, I fell back in the pool like I was having trouble swimming. Aidan immediately asked, "You ok mommy?" As soon as I had reassured him that I was ok, he went on crashing. He came upon his big sister Reese, crashed her and floated off as if nothing had happened, without so much as a glance back!

Mean Aidan

Randy and I were talking recently about having a third child and disagreed about what sex we would prefer. I would prefer another girl so that Reese could have a sister, while Randy would like another boy.

Reese had another idea, "Mommy and daddy would like a nice Aidan, not a mean Aidan."

Sibling Rivalry

Last week when I picked Reese up from her grammy's, she shared with me that her friends Sam and Kylie had new babies. She then informed me that she did not have a baby, she had a big brother. I then asked her if she would like a baby brother or sister? She responded emphatically and without hesitation, "NO!"
I would love to have 1, if not 2 more children. Randy still needs some convincing, obviously Reese does too!