Such a Good Big Brother

Eli continues to be an amazing big brother. He has memorized around 20 of his books. So when Keira wakes up, Eli goes to visit her in bed and reads books to her. She lights up when she sees him. And, even if she wakes up fussy, she calms down immediately when he appears. Then, she lays there patiently and listens to him read. It's amazing. It actually allows me to get a few things done. Scott said, "Wow, who would've thought we'd end up with a 3 year old babysitter!"

Here she is listening to him read. Eli's doing his best reading upside down, which any teacher will tell you isn't very easy.


Here, she takes a break from looking at the book to look at her fan. As most babies do, she LOVES fans. She talks to them and smiles at them. When they aren't on, Eli turns them on for her to look at.


He also reads to her on the couch...


... and while she's in her blue vibrating chair.


He hates it when she cries, as I said before -- he hates all loud noises. Usually when she starts to cry he covers his ears. He used to tell her to stop, but then when we explained that she didn't understand he resorted to covering his ears. The other night in the car, her ultimate nemesis, he covered his ears and sang to her at the same time -- so thoughtful.

After I change her diaper I put her in her crib for some mobile time. She loves her mobile, and we position her in the crib so she can easily see her mobile and her fan. If I'm busy, and she starts to cry, Eli goes to see her immediately. He carries his big stool into her room, puts it next to her crib, and talks to her. He will also wind her mobile for her, give her toys, or try to amuse her with other wind up music toys. He also goes in to visit her with his big stool when she's content.


Here you can see Keira looking back at him from inside her crib.


Last, and possibly sweetest, he always asks to hold her and love her. We do this either by putting her on his lap, or next to him, on the couch. Or, I lay her down next to him in bed. I have never staged any of my pictures of them together. I simply get my camera when they are already together and try to get their attention. Seeing how sweet he is with his sister, and how much she already loves him makes all the craziness of having two more than worth it. We are so lucky...