Toddler Tuesday: Sleepover!

Max's birthday buddies Jake and Jack stayed with us recently.  They brought along their parents and baby brother. We thoroughly enjoyed them. We love house guests.

Max, Jack, Jake

The older boys were born on the same day.  It's always interesting when they get together.  We learn something every time. For example, when they were about 8 months old, Garrett and I learned that yes, Max really could feed himself his own bottle. He watched them do it and took matters into his own little hands.

This time, we were so pleased to see someone give Max some of his own medicine.  Curious, Jack examined Max's behavior chart. Max marched over and told him not to play with it.

Does anyone else think it's ironic that one of the topics on his chart is sharing?

In response to Max's tyranny, Jack grabbed a magnet from it and tossed it across the room. Then, with a mischievous grin (much like his father's), he hid behind the couch to watch Max unhinge and retrieve the magnet.  This process repeated a couple of times.

They played well after that. Max realized he couldn't mess with him.

Jake, the gentlest of the boys, did not fare as well under Max's territorial assault. When he looked at Max's book on planets, he was willing enough to share with Max, but Max needed more than a little encouragement to understand that sharing doesn't mean he gets to play with everything and no one else gets to touch his stuff.

This parenting gig is hard work.

Still, when we set up the inflatable mattress for the twins in the playroom to spend the night, Max declared he wanted to sleep with them. The parental units were all a little nervous.  After almost three years of sleep deprivation, who can blame us?  But we gave it a chance.

I wish they were here every night because he slept in with no night time visits to our room!

Max and Baby Jameson

No matter how territorial Max can be with his toys, it doesn't seem to translate to babies.  He loves Baby Jameson.  In this picture, Max's fascination with Jameson's "tiny toes" is clear.  Max was so enamored with Baby J that while the baby was sitting in a Bumbo seat, Max pulled up a chair and sat right in front of him to study the infant's every move. Then he raced back and forth to his playroom finding new toys to offer the five-month-old.

Oh, I hope he's as sweet to Alexandra when she arrives!

Max was a little taken aback when Jameson spit up on me--because I was bouncing him after he ate. Head thunk.  I explained babies do that sometimes, and Alexandra might even spit up on him.  He declared that would NOT happen and began listing ways he planned to retaliate if his little sister considered such a thing.

But, according to him, it was okay that Jameson did it.