Nerdy Suburban Mom

I couldn’t be more proud of the way Lillian is handling her new role as Big Sister. Of course, it’s not perfect. She does get upset that she isn’t getting as much attention as before, and that it is slower in coming. She’s also begun to dread being alone, which can include sitting at the dining room table by herself while everyone else is on the couch (ten feet away). But there’s a critical point which makes me feel better about this — she blames us for the perceived lack of interest, and doesn’t blame Reuven for drawing us away from her. I can tell because if she’s sobbing over a minor injustice, she will go to him, give him a big hug and kiss, and immediately begin to feel better.

Whenever I pick her up at school, the other kids (from 1 1/2 years old up to 4) crowd around wanting to hold him. Lil makes sure to point out that she is his big sister, and is very helpful and keeps him safe and happy, so she gets to hold him all the time. She also finds noises he makes to be uproariously funny: “Mommy, he BURPED! Mommy, he FARTED! Mommy, he said MNNnnnrrrggg!” (Such things are fascinating to toddlers. I find a fair amount of amusement in him myself, to be completely honest.)

The downside of her being so close to him: they will be more apt to team up against me and Brett, and they’re just smart enough for that to be very, very dangerous…

Most children don’t climb trees when they’re less than a week old. In this day and age, it’s possible many children never climb trees at all. This does not, however, apply to Altschul children; we intend to have them in as many trees as possible over the course of their lifetimes, starting as early as possible.

“Climb” is a bit of a stretch in this case, since Reuven is still not capable of holding his head up without help (and wasn’t even capable of staying awake for this photo session). But you get the idea…