Where to begin? A relationship between sisters is complicated. With only 16 months between them, the gap of size and maturity is closing and with that comes more laughter but also more tears.
Most of their behavior is totally typical. Audrey wants to do whatever Josie is doing. It isn't undying admiration at this point, but she definitely "gets inspired" by what the big sis is doing. Josie hasn't learned yet that imitation is the highest form of flattery, so she gets rather worked up about it. Especially if it involves cheerios.
An example:
In the morning, I'll get Josie a bowl full of cheerios to keep her calm before I can get myself together enough to get her a real breakfast. If Audrey has been
A story for you.
Every once in a while, Josie will be so very sweet to Audrey and will give her a toy without an ulterior motive or say something sweet about how much she loves her. I have to keep my eyes and ears open for it though, because at this point they are not too lovey dovey. Audrey in turn does occasionally offer kisses and hugs to her, but again, I have to be extra watchful if I want to catch those moments.
Most of the time, they get along great. They tend to coexist without tears about 90% of the time. The older Audrey gets, the more they play closer and closer together. Josie is happy to role play (and of course assign roles to Audrey) all day long and Audrey plays along for a while before moving on to another game or activity.
There isn't a whole lot of jealousy yet. Most of the time, if one kid wants to he held, the other is content to stand close by or play on her own. I can only recall less than a handful of times that Josie asked me to put Audrey down so she could sit with me (and read a story of course). Most of the time, Audrey is happy to get down because she's done with whatever we are doing anyways. Overall, this doesn't create problems, which I'm so thankful for.
They are almost the same clothing size! For a while, Josie was in 2T and Audrey was in 18 months. I foresee many arguments about clothing since they will more than likely be in similar sizes their whole lives. Lord, help us all.
They interact the most at mealtimes. Right now, they sit next to each other with the lfb sitting across from them. Josie is all about messing around at dinner time and Audrey is happy to oblige if she can once she's eaten enough to avoid starvation. Many a meal I am guilty of dragging Audrey's high chair away from the table to try to keep them under some kind of control. Many a meal, I fail. It is entertaining, though, so there's that.
I still think that they look like sisters, but the similarities are not that obvious to me. Hair is different, eyes are different, noses are different. With totally different personalities, they just seem so different.
One of their obvious differences (to hubby and me) is how different their approaches are to new things. Josie will dive in head first with excitement, not thinking through what could happen or if she is even capable of it. Usually, she ends up stumbling or initially failing, causing immediate frustration. We do a lot of coaching around about continuing on even though "it's so hard, mommy!"
Audrey will take her time, watch everyone else, figure out exactly what she should do, and then do it almost perfectly. She takes longer because she does this, but in the end she comes out ahead. She didn't have to fail and then figure it out. She just does it right the first time. This can be dangerous, though, because if we aren't careful she could get the attitude that if she can't do it perfectly the first time, it isn't worth doing. No bueno.
It's so fun to watch how different they are. They are both smart. They are both loving. They are both sweet and compassionate to others. They are both dramatic. They are both hilarious. Yet they go about all of these character traits differently. Always keeping us on our toes, these two!
I pray that they can be best friends. I pray that even though it's inevitable that there will be arguing, that they will learn to put each other ahead of friends that will come and go. I pray that they can be sisters in Christ as well as sisters in our little family.
Aren't these little princesses sweet?
And occasionally, they match. Not too often, because come on. But occasionally, it's sweet.
I love the stories. Kind of a comic book type format. I may have to print those out and put them up.
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