Today was one of the (many) days when the awesomeness of being a mommy to two little girls is nothing short of overwhelming. The girls played so very, very many games today that I lost count.
There was “boo,” which they played over and over again, switching the instigator; then they had a couple games that involved screaming similar sounds back and forth at each other (“aaaaaaaaah!!!!” “eehhhhh!” “bababababa!!!”); they rode the rocking giraffe together; they played with Matchboxes and made vrooom-vrooom noises together; and at one amazingly precious moment this morning, E was laying on the kitchen floor and R came over and climbed on top of her (like she would to S or me) and laid her head down on E’s chest and sucked her thumb contentedly while E patted her gently on the back. When R was getting sleepy and going down for a nap, E rubbed her leg and sang “La Lechuza” and R fell asleep. E made R pretend “tea,” and R brought E some sunglasses and tried to put them on E’s face for her.
It’s astounding how different a child can be at ten months just because she has an older sister. I don’t remember E playing games this way–I mean, I know she did, I remember her playing “boo” and the like–but sometimes R seems like a miniature, much less coordinated version of E. Well, except completely different, personality-wise, but I mean as far as what she does and tries to do. Already, if E does something, R will probably try to do it. She tries to brush her own hair, and put barrettes in; she tries to sweep the floor and wipe down random surfaces she even “helped” me unload the dishwasher very much like E does.
I’m also really surprised by how many games a two-year-old and a ten-month-old can invent to play together. I thought they’d be playing “beside” each other (instead of “with” each other) for a couple of years yet, but they really interact quite a bit. E definitely pushes it; she’ll get a toy and sit down right in front of R, or grab R by the hand and lead her around the house or in a rendition of “Ring Around the Rosie.” But R is totally along for the ride, and sometimes she’ll eagerly grab for E’s hand to get her to play again. (And sometimes she screams her head off because she doesn’t want to play right now, thank you very much. And the two of them wanting the same toy is not a pretty sight, either, because neither of them quite grasps the idea that the other is going to be very upset if you just grab a toy out of their hand. They both seem quite willing to share once the idea enters their heads, but sometimes they just blaze on with whatever they want without even considering the other.)
Having two girls has definitely opened up a whole new level of wonder–watching them together is so many times sweeter than just watching one of them!
