Family Modelling

Vivien is a wonderful big sister.  She is always watching us closely to learn how to take care of her little brother. 

She is learning to breastfeed.

She is learning to change diapers.

And she is learning to give him lots of attention.  Almost as much as she gives herself.  

Drew has often had to hold the screaming baby in the evenings while I cook dinner, so now when Rafe starts to cry, Vivi will look over at him and say "Hey! Dude!"  

She loves to share her food with Rafe.  Yesterday she was dropping bits of her Caesar salad into his bouncy seat and encouraging him to be "eating?"  We have to remind her often that Rafe only drinks milk. 

She is protective of her brother and shields him from prying eyes . . . Oh wait. She actually just wanted to hold the camera while I was trying to take pictures of Rafe. 

She is a good example of "big kid" things. 

She shows him how to brush teeth.

How to entertain oneself.

How to keep warm.

And how to multitask.  Rafe is on the couch so I could vacuum.  Vivi was taking her doll for a stroll and pretending to vacuum with her "Battle Spatula," as Drew calls it.

I would be grateful if Rafe could teach Vivi a few things about taking naps during the day. 

She can sleep in her car seat pretty well.

But she could definitely use some pointers on sleeping on the couch in the middle of everything. 

And cuddling.  Definitely on cuddling.

I would also appreciate it if Vivien could give Rafe some pointers about sleeping through the night, though maybe she could not teach him her favorite sleeping position:

I don't understand how this is comfortable.

I'm also a little nervous she might teach him how fun it is to get tangled up in Mom's clothes...

She seems especially drawn to soft, silky or stretchy fabrics.

And she certainly isn't shy about showing off her figure. 

I don't think either of them need any lessons on how to be cute though.  They seem to have that one down pat.  

Which is good, because Mom doesn't have a lot of time to look cute anymore. She is lucky to get her hair washed!