While this week is very Tobin-centered, I doubt he would mind sharing the spotlight with his baby sister. You see, Lauren is a big brother magnet. Some days it seems that the only thing Tobin and Evan can agree on is their affection for her. When I bring her in to the bathroom all ready for bed, they will pause every so briefly from their bath time squabbles and blow her kisses goodnight. Just yesterday, we were at a playground and they both wanted to push her on the swing. So for a little while, I let Tobin push from behind and Evan stand in front. I had to cut off this tag-team approach when it got too rambunctious, but they all--especially Lauren--loved it. She is thrilled to be increasingly part of their world, getting to do things like ride in the race car grocery cart with Evan and play with the balloons we bring home from the store.
Being in the mix with her brothers does involve the occasional conflict too. Tobin is old enough to understand she's just a baby, and he "shares" according to her "rules" and is always gentle with her. But Evan does not appreciate having another competitor for "Ebban's toys." And when he takes something from her--which is like the most objectionable thing you could ever do to an eleven month old--she gets mad! I've even seen her mouthing Evan in a manner that I fear portends biting. Evan is lucky she only has two bottom teeth, and more often than not he ends up laughing because the only injury he suffers is getting slobbered on. I watch all this carefully with concern, and intervene to correct Evan when he takes her toy or, worse, pushes or hits her. But I know that since the two of them are not quite 24 months apart, they're going to have trouble sharing and being kind sometimes, so there's part of me that is amused that she's showing signs of fending for her self.
Given her ever-improving mobility, Lauren's life is so much fun! In fact, I'm pretty sure that the excitement of life was what gave her (and me) an especially tough time sleeping this past month. She just seemed to have trouble settling down for naps and nighttime plus had frequent night wakings. I did what I could with extra soothing at these times but when she would get even more riled up and then, sometimes, bite me during these extended nursing sessions, I would simply put her in bed. And there was a stretch there where she seemed to cry herself to sleep (hardly ever more than ten minutes) for each nap and bedtime. I just tried to be as consistent as I could with her schedule and eventually things settled down. She's in a mostly good sleeping stretch now, which has been good for both of us, but she's just learned to stand up in her crib so I'm a little wary of what's ahead. Still, Evan is a better sleeper than Tobin was, and I'd say she's better than Evan, so I'm choosing to hope for the best!
Overall, I continue to marvel at what a happy child she is. I mean the boys were happy babies too, but this one, she's extra joyful. She tags along on all our family adventures so well--even when it means missing a nap, or lots of time in the stroller or Ergo.
As if she needed to further endear herself to Matt, she's started crawling to find him almost anytime he plays music--whether patting the ukulele he's strumming or reaching for him to dance with her in his arms when something is playing on our stereo. She's got us all thoroughly charmed, and we eagerly anticipate her first birthday next month--even if we can't quite believe it's almost here.
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