As Close as It Gets

This picture pretty much sums up Owen's interactions with his brothers so far. They cling to the edge of the pool and watch as he splashes close but never too close to them. And as of last night, he already informed us that he no longer wants to share a room with them.

I had something of an epiphany this morning as I watched Owen play with his oldest sister Eva. She was just about his age when Owen arrived in our lives and as I recall, was amused by her baby brother but not all too thrilled when he got to the age that he could get into her things. Well, Owen did not have the luxury of a "baby" phase with his little brothers and instead landed smack-dab into that age which can be so frustrating to an older sibling ... times two!

I am convinced that as time goes by he will start to warm up to them. Hopefully along the way encounters such as the following will get fewer and farther between ... Alec had been playing very nicely for about twenty minutes at the edge of the pool (never fear, Mom, I am always within arm's reach!) when suddenly Owen realized his brother was using one of his toys. Without further ado, Owen scurried over and snatched the orange-Matchbox-car-racetrack-piece out of Alec's hand. Of course, Alec was very offended and turned around to bite whatever was nearest to his little teeth - which happened to be Owen's stomach. I rushed over to separate the two screaming boys and found a perfect impression of incisors on Owen's belly. Needless to say, it was not a pretty scene!

Apparently, Alec did slightly redeem himself to Owen later in the day. We were preparing to go out for our evening walk and one of Owen's shoes was missing. Somehow his little brother located it, and as Owen said: "Mom, Alec bit me in the stomach. But, he found my shoe!"

Thank goodness for small victories.