Brothers and Sisters
Bean and Gracie are at a great stage right now. Bean’s two and a half and Gracie is almost ten months old. Up until this point, both of them have been interested in the other, but they haven’t really been able to interact or play together.
Now, Gracie is getting interested in the toys and activities that Bean has. She doesn’t always know what to do when she finally gets her hands on something, but she spends most of her time trying to figure out how to do whatever Bean is doing.
Bean is just as infatuated with Gracie as she is with him. He loves to bring her things to play with and he’s really good about sharing his toys with her. He starts each day by asking where Gracie is and he goes to bed each night asking to give Gracie a night-night kiss.
They just like each other. Now, they are learning how to play together. We still have to remind Bean that Grace doesn’t know how to play with his toys and that he needs to show her. The other day, Bean and I were playing with his wooden train set. We had just put the entire track together and were ready to start playing with the trains. Gracie had been sitting next to us, quietly, for 10 minutes or so, just watching what we were doing. She sat there for a while, watching us work, and then without warning, she lunged! She grabbed two chubby handfuls of train tracks, sending the entire set up flying.
Bean just about lost it, yelling out, “NOOOOOO, GRACIE!!!” And just as he was about to flip out on her, I calmed him down and explained that she is just a baby and she doesn’t know how to play with big boy toys, and that maybe he could show her how. He calmed down a little and then spent the next 15 minutes trying to get her to hold on to a train piece while he pushed it around the track.
I have found with Bean that just telling him he has to share doesn’t always go over so well. But if I give him a job to do when he’s sharing, that gives him a sense of importance and he doesn’t seem to mind sharing with Gracie so much. He also does much better with sharing when I give him the choice of which toy to share. So, if he has a bunch of toys that he’s hoarding, I don’t just tell him he has to share everything. Instead, I’ll ask him to pick two toys to share. Giving him ownership over the sharing really seems to help.
I’m sure that over the next…oh…eighteen years, we’ll deal with sibling rivalry in all different forms, but at this point in time, I am really enjoying seeing my two babies grow and play together. When I was pregnant with Gracie, some people told me that it would be challenging to have two little ones so close in age. Maybe that will cause some issues as they grow up. For now, I have been pleasantly surprised so far that not only do my children bring so much joy to me and Chris, but they also bring so much joy to each other.
20 Comments
HeatherM
Telling Bean to share sounds akin to when I ask my husband to clean (e.g. clean the kitchen). It’s like the concept of clean just doesn’t click with him. But if I list the specific tasks I want him to do: empty dishwasher, clear off counters, clean out fridge, take out the garbage- then he happily cleans the kitchen quite well. There are some things that boys seem to never outgrow, no matter how old they are 🙂
laurenbtrain
I love the idea of giving him a task to make him feel like he is helping her…just not HAVING to share with his pesky lil sis! You are such a great mommy and I love yalls parenting style!
Bridget
Your children are the cutest kids on the internet. Just sayin’.
Deepa
First, awesome pictures! These kids are adorable! Second, Heather M, I love that you compared your husband to Bean, I feel that way about my husband sometimes:) Third, this is a very timely post for us, as we are expecting our second soon (although they will be almost 3 years apart), so thank you! It also brought to mind something my mom used to do with me and my sister (4 years apart). She always wanted whatever I had, no matter what, so my mom taught me to go for my second choice first, for which my sister would quick lunge, leaving me with the toy I actually wanted. Worked like a charm!
Casey @ The Baker Bee
Posts like this make me maybe want to start thinking about another baby. Maybe. That’s sayin’ a lot 🙂
Ashley @ A Recipe for Sanity
How sweet are they? Love the pictures and the story. I’m so happy they enjoy each other’s company!
Michelle
I completely LOVE having an older brother! He is about 2 years older than me. We did fight of course, especially when it came to who got to sit in the front seat. In fact, a couple years ago for Christmas when we were 21 and 23, we got in this huge argument about who got to sit in the front seat. Apparently some things never change. 🙂 Bean and Gracie will grow up with such a special bond!
Jenna@CallHerHappy
Nah. Don’t listen to them. I have a brother 2 yrs younger than me, and we have always been close give or take a couple of years in middle school! Also, I love your idea of giving Bean a job while he is sharing. I am storing that one away in my mommy brain.
Jessica
I had a 3 year old, 21 month old and a newborn! People always told me how hard it was going to be, but I was pleasantly surprised! I think it was because I hadn’t gotten used to being out of the “baby” stage, so it was nothing when I brought a new baby home. Now my kids are 9, 8, and 6…..this by far is the hardest age group! Yes, they’re out of diapers and sleep all night, but they fight and argue constantly! Enjoy them sharing and playing together, because I miss it soooo bad! Live reading your blog, by the way 😉
Gin
I think it sounds like the perfect distance apart. My brother and are 1 year 11 months apart, and it is great. We were raised on a ranch 45 miles from the nearest town, so growing up all we had was each other. We had some neighbors with kids and my parents did their best to make sure we were involved with things in town and we did attend jr high and high school in town, but we were still really close because of our isolation. We’ve had our ups and downs, mostly due to our differences (I’m the academic, well behaved, “boring” one; he’s the troublemaking, hell-raising, obnoxious one). But, I can’t even imagine not having him in my life. He’s my baby brother!
Sarah@Crazy Love Gamble-Style
I think you made it through the sometimes rough part about close in ages already, now is where all the benefits come in. It’s so great that they are already playing well together! My guess is that it’s going to continue to be really good!
Alaina
Those are the cutest pictures ever. And I love the way you work with Bean and how he interacts with Gracie!
Kiersten
That’s really great the kids are getting along Katie. From my experience though my brother and I fought a lot. I would be so bossy to him and I would get mad at him for the silliest things like getting a Dr. Pepper because I got one too. But 12 years down the road, our relationship has completely changed. We love each other tremendously so don’t fret if they do ever fight with each other. It comes with the territory.
C
My brother and I are 18 months apart, and we love it. I’m sure my mother had a crap time of it for a while, but I love being so close to him!
Jen at Cabin Fever
This is beyond cute. Its so great that they are so close and play so well together. When a sibling relationship is close it can be the most amazing relationship ever. Bean and Gracie are so lucky
Cabin Fever in Vermont
JoHanna
I don’t really see how their age could bring problems for them as they get older. Maybe you and Chris because of how close their milestones (and puberty) will be. My sister and I are 15 months apart and connected at the hip. I thank my mom everyday for having her so close after having me. I don’t know what I’d do without her. We have been through everything together. I mean EVERYTHING.
Kat
I love seeing and hearing all about the relationship that Bean and Gracie have. It’s always been amazing to me how young siblings interact (since we want another baby soon!). Bean and Gracie are seriously SO AMAZING to one another. You have got to be some of the very best parents I know…and I don’t even know you 😉
Rebecca @ The Reluctant Housewife
You know what? My parents had 5 kids in 5 years {there’s a set of twins in there}, but the top 3 kids are 18 months, exactly, apart. We grew up super close to each other. I don’t know how my mom didn’t completely lose her mind…. but her kids all grew up super close. As adults {ages 31-26 now} we’re all still, for the most part, close.
Lindsay
So precious! You almost make me want another right now…almost! 🙂
jenny-bird
So cute!