Baby Sister Doesn't Have a Chance

Last night, we had friends over. To Ian's delight, their daughter Riley, younger than Ian by 5 months, showed up. He kept slyly walking sideways over to her to give her a kiss. She wasn't too sure about this behavior and let us know with a pout and someone would rescue her. Well, eventually she warmed up to Ian, so he seized the moment and took that kiss. I don't think she was too impressed, but I thought it was sweet. (The picture is of Ian and Riley on Halloween. He sure adores her!)



Later, Ian did something a bit unusual to Riley. I don't know, I think he thought she was a puppet or something. He would walk up to her with a huge smile on his face, grab hold of her wrist and make her arm go up and down. Riley looked confused and kept looking to the adults for guidance. She kept standing there, letting Ian move her arm for her. She finally decided this was not cool, and got help by displaying another pout. Hurray, her mommy came to the rescue. However, once she was placed back on the ground to play, Ian would go back to her and start his puppeteering all over again. Riley obvious objected, and yet would not run away. So far, the only way she knew how to solve the problem was to look for adult intervention.

This is why I worry for Baby Sister. Just lying there, staying in one place will be her thing for a while. Will Ian see her merely as a toy to play with? My biggest concern is when we're in the van and they're sitting next to each other, Ian facing forward and Baby Sister facing backwards. Thanks to some advice from a friend, I realize I could separate them by putting them on the side seats and not use the middle. And yet I know that the middle seat is supposed to be the safest place in the event of an accident. But what if Ian IS the accident? Hmm. We will have to play it by ear and see what happens.

Baby Sister Countdown: 3 days, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!