Brothers are better than yoghurt

Finn and Theo have a very interesting relationship. They mostly get along well until they don’t, which pretty much happens several times a day.

It mostly plays out like this…

Finn will be doing his own thing having a good time and along comes baby Theo who will observe him for a moment and be all like “That looks like fun, I’ll have that one favourite toy you’re holding, thank you very much” and Finn will be all “OH HELL NO.”

Theo will be yelling “SHAAAAAARE!!!” and Finn will yell “Baby Theo is snatching my toy, HELPPP!!”

I think the problem is that they’re both used to having Truett and Kirsten baby them since they were born. The big kids give in to them almost all the time and Finn is not accustomed to having another baby share in his babyness. Also, Theo is quite an alpha male type go getter, which is to say that he sees what he wants and goes to get it, steamrolling everything in his path.

My mediation techniques so far have been to let them work it out on their own unless there’s shoving involved and someone gets hurt. Sometimes Finn will realise it’s not worth it, so he’ll give up and go play with something else instead, but I don’t make him do it. Other times, he’ll round up his toys and make a quick getaway to some place quiet where he can play in peace, leaving his screaming baby behind.

To foster a brotherly bond, I’ve taken to putting them both to bed together so they can spend more time hanging out before they fall asleep. On the one hand, complete mayhem every nap/bedtime, but I think it’s been working because they’ve been getting along much better.

I discovered them sharing a yoghurt calmly the other day and this is unprecedented because when there’s food involved, Theo goes into full on rage mode if it’s not all making its way swiftly into his mouth.

Maybe they’re starting to realise that brothers are pretty rad to have.