Life with two boys

I grew up with two sisters, it seemed like our extended family were mostly girls, and even all my first cousins are girls. I never thought I would have a boy but here I am a mother of two of them! Jamie on the other hand grew up with a brother and all the kids in the neighborhood were boys. He has always wanted daughters but to his surprise (and his fault) he got sons.

From the beginning Caleb has been a super sweet and awesome big brother. He was always very helpful. He wasn't the type to always want to kiss and hold his baby brother but every night he will kiss and hug Lucas good night. Now that Lucas is almost 3 they can play together for short bits of time, they love to chase each other, and Lucas will mimic just about everything Caleb does. If Caleb wants a snack so does Lucas. And instead of sharing one bowl, they each have to have their own (so annoying!). If Caleb goes on the big slide at the park or climbs on it, Lucas wants to try too. It also can go the other way around. We were at a hotel swimming pool and I asked if Caleb wanted to go on the waterslide. He said no. Then I asked Lucas if he wanted to go on the waterslide and he said yes. After that, Caleb said he wanted to go on the waterslide.

It's been a joy watching them bond and form a relationship. I give Caleb lots of credit for understanding that Lucas is younger and hasn't quite grasped the concepts of patience and sharing. He's not a total angel because he does tend to grab things out of Lucas' hands. He is also good at pointing out when Lucas isn't following the rules; such as not eating at the table, not eating his vegetables, coloring on something other than paper, etc etc.

Of course with any siblings there's fighting. Oh the fighting. Sometimes I just don't want to referee but I feel like I still have to jump in since Lucas is still a little young. A lot of times I find they are fighting over a toy and if Caleb has it he's holding it up high so Lucas can't try to grab it back. If Lucas has the toy he's holding on for dear life and pushing Caleb away. He definitely puts all 28 pounds he has into pushing Caleb away and sometimes pushes him so hard he falls. Lucas also has gotten into the bad habit of throwing tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants. I hope this phase ends very soon. It's getting better and I think largely due to reminding Lucas to "use his words". Sometimes I can hear Lucas shouting "No thank you!" to Caleb and when Caleb doesn't stop I have to speak up and say "Caleb, he said No thank you, you need to listen."

But overall I think they do love each other. At least I have a couple of pictures that show they like each other and for the most part tolerate each other.

Holding hands in the car

Sleeping together

Happy boys!