Big Brother Vander

After having a new baby, the mom is obviously chopped liver and everyone always only asks about the baby (not entirely true, but bear with me). However, people do still ask about the other babies, specifically how they are dealing with the new baby, so I thought I would share how Vander is dealing with the newest addition to our family.

Vander has been an absolutely excellent big brother! While his version of "gentle" is still not quite as gentle as I probably want, Vander loves Marshall!

Vander lights up every time he sees Marshall, even though he is usually being carried by me. He really hasn't had any issues sharing. He has never once pushed Marshall out of my arms or showed any signs of being mean or unhappy towards him.

Vander loves to pat Marshall, whether he is sleeping or crying. Vander was trying to play "This little piggy" with Marshall's feet last night which Marshall did not really appreciate, but was super adorable since Vander loves it when I play that with him.

Vander points at (again, not as gently as I would like...) Marshall's eyes and ears. Vander will come lay down next to him on the floor on a blanket or under the baby gym.

As you can tell from this picture below, Vander is not especially empathetic and he usually doesn't seem to hear or care if Marshall is crying. He is generally not empathetic though, so it isn't specific to Marshall. But at least he can sleep through a baby crying next to him in the car!

I brought Marshall with me to Vander's school ice cream social last week and all of the little kids were so excited for the baby and Vander was positively thrilled to show off his baby brother.

Overall Vander is very helpful for getting things for his brother. Mostly he loves playing with all of Marshall's things. I would find him in the pack n play quite often.

I am so proud of what a great big brother Vander is and so excited to see them grow up together!