Having Adelia as a big sister has taught Jr., our youngest, to do things perfectly, in a less than perfect way.
When he learned to sit he kept falling over, obviously on purpose, and laugh - hysterical. We couldn't figure out why until we saw him and Adelia on the trampoline together. She'd fall over, not on purpose, and he thought it was the funniest thing since stand up comedy. A revelation - he could do it just right too and have a blast.
Crawling? Fantastic.
Adelia loved this phase. She could do this all day with him, although stopping was a problem once she got going. So, running into things was a bit of a situation, but not to her little brother. He just knew she did this only for his entertainment. Without a doubt he wanted in on this 3 Stooges fun!
Walking? A blast.
We were so excited for our fat little guy, so was his sister. Adelia wears leg braces and her walking is less than perfect. At first she didn't use a walker, so she fell, a lot. And, walked like Frankenstein.
So did Jr.
We'd watch him mimic her for hours. He'd take a few steps, force himself to fall and laugh until he couldn't breathe. He'd jolt from side to side right behind Adelia. She thought, "You're welcome Pooh (Jr.'s nickname) no one here can teach you this but me."
One of my favorite things ever is when Adelia got her walker. She could run, walk on uneven ground, and get booking to do just about everything. For the first couple days the baby thought, what the hell? He'd watch her, then get in trouble for trying to take the walker away from her, upset this new toy wasn't for him. One morning, my husband Che and I heard an awful noise - a combination nails on a chalkboard and a fog horn - Jr. running full speed down the hall pushing a small plastic chair.
He'd made his own walker. GENIUS! Happier than a fat kid with cake, and let me tell you he loves cake. When Adelia got home from school and saw this, her eyes twinkled. Looking pretty proud that she'd taught him the right way to do things in life.
Dad was his target.
Once in front of Dad, he yelled, punching his legs with everything he had. Adelia looked shocked, what the hell Pooh, RUNNNNNNN! She stopped crying, and 11 month old Jr. walked away satisfied everything was fine. He still comes to her aid, and only hers. We allow it, we don't correct it, discipline him, or tell him no.
We let him defend her.
Jr. is almost two. He's learned a lot and is a happy and healthy baby. As his parents we like to argue over who is his favorite - ME of course! But, it's Adelia he adores. When we sneak into his bedroom, to do a quick check, it's Adelia he's laying with, laughing, playing. He waits impatiently for her to arrive home from school, and hugs her for no reason.
Last, but not least, she's the only one in this entire house he'll rescue, and not with just a quick, "hey stop it." But with a "you're going to have to kill me first," attitude.
He knows all her imperfections are perfections, and only the two of them can do it up right.