NO, NO, NO!!

Those were the words Abbie yelled at Gavin this morning. They were sitting together in our family room fighting over a drum toy. Abbie was playing with it when Gavin came and decided it was his turn. Abbie looked at Gavin and yelled, "NO, NO, NO!!!"

Adam would have plenty to say at this point in the story - commentary through the lens of Mimetic theory, rivalry over a shared object of desire, and so on. (And indeed, he has written a lot about parenting here, and here, and here, and here.)  But he's the scholar/theologian in our family; I'm just the mom, and to this mom, the sound of my daughter appropriately expressing her frustration with her brother was music to my ears!

Abbie has been with our family for 4 1/2 months. She has always been smitten with her ge ge's (big brother in Chinese).  Her face lights up when they enter the room and she follows them around with excitement about whatever new adventure they're guiding her on.

Likewise, Brayden and Gavin adore their little sister.  Starting in China, whenever she fusses, one or both of them start singing, "You are My Sunshine," in a soft, sweet voice (which immediately calms her - it's like magic).  If they wake-up before her and then hear her wake later, they'll pop into her room, turn on the light, and entertain her in her crib until we come get her out.  When it's pick-up time at school, the boys run ahead of Adam or me into Abbie's class and announce it's time to go home, at which point she points to them, proudly exclaims, "GeGe!!" and hops up to go home.

They race each other, and just generally have a wonderful time together. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NTUmJulDlY

For those of you parenting multiple children, or if you were raised with brothers or sisters, you know that squabbles between siblings are par for the course.  Toys, food, seating position, attention - bickering about nonsense all day long.

This morning was the first time Abbie has vocalized her contempt with with one of her brothers like this.  The reason it was music to my ears was it demonstrates that 1) she is picking up English very well and very quickly, and 2) she is comfortable enough in her position in our family that she can yell at her brother when he offends her, and seems to know that's what brothers and sisters do.  It was wonderful!

So, we'll continue the water fights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTP2J5t65PI

 And all of the little things that go into building bonds and becoming a family.