The Ups and Downs of having a Big Brother

Now that baby Alice is fully mobile, cruising and crawling her way from here to there and everywhere, she is developing fast. She is curious, inquisitive and eager to learn. Lucky for her, she benefits from having the perfect teacher in her big brother Clayton. It's so cute to see them together. Alice will follow him everywhere, trying her best to keep up. No matter what he is doing, she will be hovering nearby, watching his every move and taking it all in. Her toddler big brother is only happy to play teacher too. Last week, I watched him crawl to the TV unit and pull himself to his feet using the furniture. He didn't need to crawl there or pull himself up, but he did and he looked back to make sure Alice had watched him do it. Then he walked back and did it again, pausing at each stage of the operation. By the time he had crawled over for a third time, she was pulling herself to her feet right alongside him! Amazing to see as a parent. It made me feel really proud of my son.

It's not all rosy having a big brother there to show you the ropes though. Not when that big brother is as crafty as Clayton is and uses his more developed intellect to his advantage when he feels the need to. The same day, I was sat watching them play together (or watching Clayton play and Alice chase, trying to take part). I kept quiet and just watched. Before I knew it, he decided he was going to empty all of the books one by one from the shelf alongside their play area. I'd usually stop him, but with Alice watching his every move I was keen to see where it would lead and I'm glad I didn't interject. I slowly walked over, camera in hand and coughed loudly to announce my arrival on the scene. He immediately burst out laughing at getting caught. In the next breath, he spun around whilst pointing at Alice and shouted "Alsh. No Alsh! Naughty! No! No! No!".

I'm sure Alice is pleased she has someone to show her the ropes. I'm not so sure she's going to enjoy getting the blame for everything until she's old enough to outwit him.