They are finally playing together!

It has taken some time, but the last few months with Peyton and Gavin have been great. They are actually playing together! When Gavin was first born, Peyton had a really difficult time adjusting to the changes. She was still her sweet self; that is at least to everyone else. She never missed an opportunity to take a swing at her new little brother. She would just come over and pop him in the head. James and I got really skilled at deflecting the shots, but this didn't allow for a lot of floor time without us very close by!

They began playing together when Gavin was about 10 months old. He could pretty much get to any part of the house that he wanted to, just not too incredibly fast. He was crawling by this point. Peyton didn't really try to include him, it was really more of playing in the same room. He would crawl back to her room and play with her toys. This went well until she decided that she wanted what he had, and usually it was just because he had it. She would just take it from him. No trading, no sympathies. Gavin would just let her. He would just look at her blankly and get another toy! The innocence of little children!

Over the past 6 months, Gavin has started "standing his ground" and seems to have earned the right and respect of actually playing WITH Peyton. Since he is walking so confidently now and he almost weighs as much as she does, this is a lot easier for him! If she takes anything away from him now he just screams in her face. He also gets a death grip on his toys when she comes near! Although we are working on words with him instead of the screaming, it is hard to not find this transition of domineering a little funny! Don't get me wrong, she still pushes him down and takes toys when she sees an opportunity (when mommy isn't paying close attention or Peyton feels like she is in need of attention). However, she is actually sharing with him. Most of the time she will bring him another toy to trade if she wants his toy. She also randomly brings Gavin toys when he doesn't have one in his hand. She usually announces "I gib one to Gabin, Mommy!" because she wants the credit for her kindness! ;)

What we are working on now helping Peyton understand that it is okay if Gavin doesn't take the toy that she is offering him. She gets really upset if he isn't interested in what she thinks he should really want! What a girl!

Here are some of the recent pictures of them playing together!

They both are hams! Every time Gavin sees the camera, he scrunches his whole face and says Cheeee.

He crawled in Peyton's shopping cart on his own and then she thought she ought to take him for a ride.