On being a big sister

Sometimes, Madeline is the sweetest big sister.  Kisses, sharing toys, getting me a diaper, randomly saying, "I love you, Gabe."

But sometimes she isn't so nice.

To be fair, Gabe really gets all up in her face, pulls her hair, and generally won't leave her alone.  She's the only one here that's his size, so he gravitates towards her. He's putting a cramp in her style!

She's realized where Gabe can and cannot go: inside the pack-n-play, on her bed, in the bathtub, on top of the couch, locked in the bathroom.  So what does she do?  She goes to those places to get away from him.  She takes her toys she doesn't want him to have and puts them in the sink, on the table or inside the pack-in-play.  I regularly find her training frog toilet on her bed because she doesnt want him near it (for which I'm grateful!).  She hands me her piggy or bear so, "Gabe can't get it!"

I hear, "Mama, please put Gabe in the bouncer, please." The double please added for a sense of urgency. She wants him trapped so he can't get to her and she gets rather upset when I don't trap him.

The other day, her reaction to him was priceless:

"Mama my bottom hurts."
"Why?"
"Because I'm sitting on a block."
"Why are you sitting on a block?"
"Because I don't want Gabe to get it!

And I regularly hear, "No, Gabe, NO! You go riiiiight here." or "No, Gabe. You have to play with this, I can so play with this one."

When riding next to him in the grocery cart, she'll reach over to hug him one minute and push his face away the next...but that's because he leans towards her with an open mouth and five white teeth chomping.

But Madeline, I want to warn you: one day, Gabe is gonna get bigger and stronger.  He's gonna fight back, learn to climb and be able to get your toys.  Beware.  It's coming!