I had certain ideas of what life with 2 kids would be like. Ok, so they were more like fantasies. They stopped just short of imagining my kids holding hands and frolicking through a field of daisies.
Then Diva Girl spent the first few months of Rascal's life trying to ignore his existence.
At that point, you modify some of your ideas and learn to appreciate every glance, every smile, every gentle touch. Voluntary interactions between them have been downright applauded and rewarded. In fact, on a daily basis I give her favorite foods just for sitting and playing nicely near him. This was an idea that was given to us by our ABA therapist, to encourage some positive interaction between them...at that point in time she had been pretty aggressive with him and there was some talk of getting him a helmet for protection.
No, I'm not kidding.
But lately, we've been seeing some fondness there. Some affection. And dare I say...sisterly love? She has figured out that if she does certain things, he laughs. So she prat falls and jumps and wiggles and watches her baby brother laugh and look at her adoringly. A few days ago they had both gone back to their bedroom and it was eerily quiet, so I went to check on them. I opened the door and they were sitting on the floor playing side by side. They just looked at me as I walked in, as if I were an intruder...I slowly backed away and did a happy dance in the living room.
So last night we decided that the kids had a sufficient layer of grime on them, and filled up the tub for baths. They are always bathed one after the other, with Rascal going first. Well this time she came into the bathroom and starts to complain and say "bath!" and clearly wanted to get in with him. So we put her in, and cringed a bit waiting for the other shoe to drop.
There were giggles. And lots of splashing. And even some getting clean. But no one was hitting, or crying, or attempting to drown one other. It was such a great, classic sibling moment. Rub a dub dub, two kids in the tub! In the end, I think the whole family got soaked....but we were all smiling from ear to ear.
The may not be building forts together just yet, but I have the feeling we'll get there. Next up? Teaching them to high-five!