brothers

- Sarah 3 Comments

Siblings // Toby and Gabe in May

Amongst the illness of the last month the relationship between Toby and Gabe is continuing to develop. Things haven’t really changed too much though; Gabe still absolutely adores his brother and is always ready with a smile or a laugh for him. He’s starting to discover the joy of playing with all Toby’s toys too and now he’s on the move nothing is safe from his little hands. Toby still seems to see Gabe as a mixture of someone to entertain and give the odd kiss to, and something of an inconvenience who takes up far too much of mummy’s time still.

I am though catching more and more glimpses of what their relationship might be like in another year or so, when Gabe can really interact and they can properly play together. Yesterday I left them in the living room for two minutes whilst I was tidying up in the kitchen and came back to this sight…

Toby and Gabe getting into mischief

Now pulling tissues out of the box is a favourite game of Gabe’s so I said ‘oh Gabe, what a mess you’ve made’ to which Toby piped up ‘And me!’ They’re going to get up to some mischief aren’t they?

Gabe is a very grabby baby, and he loves to grab people’s hair, especially Toby’s if he can get near him. We’re trying to teach him to be gentle and he is slowly getting the idea. And Toby is trying to be a bit more patient with him too, instead of immediately just crying and shouting for him to get off!

Gentle Gabe

We are also trying to encourage Toby to share at the moment which is something he is still struggling with. However, one thing he has almost definitely shared with Gabe this week is his chicken pox! Especially after Gabe had this Duplo in his mouth (it’s a crocodile’s mouth in case you weren’t sure) which had been in Toby’s mouth just a minute earlier. It’s almost inevitable that Gabe will get the pox so we’re just playing a waiting game now.

Siblings pracising playing together

And the last picture for this month is one of those glimpses of what is to come. They were both concentrating on the bricks and for the briefest of moments neither of them was trying to take anything of the other and I’m sure that it won’t be long before we are seeing more and more moments like this between my wonderful brothers.

Toby and Gabe playing with Duplo

 

The Me and Mine Project

- Sarah 10 Comments

Living Arrows 16/52 (2016)

There have been some improvements this week; after Gabe’s sixth tooth cut through last weekend his cold has finally started to clear up too and we have a much happier boy on our hands. There’s still some work to do in the sleep department but we’re definitely heading in the right direction. Gabe’s main problem now is that he really wants to crawl but he can’t quite get all his arms and legs moving in the right order yet!

Gabe is getting close to crawling

Toby has been his usual lovely self with just a couple of minor toddler dramas this week – mostly about not being allowed to play on my phone or having to put his shoes on for nursery. A major topic of conversation this week has been about who in our family has a willy. We have established that Toby, Gabe and Daddy all have willies but Toby is still not entirely convinced that mummy does not despite regularly following my to the toilet!

Toby is just generally pretty hilarious these days. His language is still developing so quickly and he comes out with the funniest things. He’s just such a cheeky chap…

Toby the cheeky chap

And just yesterday I overheard something that almost made me cry, and it made me realise what a lovely caring big brother Toby is becoming. Both boys had just finished their tea and I was popping back and forth to the kitchen tidying up. Gabe gave a bit of a cry and I heard Toby say ‘It’s OK Gabe, I’m here’ – just too adorable for words!

These two brothers really love each other

Living Arrows
- Sarah 6 Comments

Siblings // Toby and Gabe in April

I sound a bit like a stuck record with these posts but not much has changed with Toby and Gabe’s relationship in the last month.

Gabe still absolutely adores his big brother and is always looking to see what he’s up to. Toby still likes making Gabe laugh and smile, but still spends a lot of time saying ‘no Gabe, that’s mine’. We’re working on the sharing though and Toby will do it but only on his own terms. We were sitting playing with his Duplo the other day and Gabe was trying to grab all the bricks. I got one and asked Toby if Gabe could play with it. We got the usual ‘no, that’s mine’, but then 30 seconds later he picked a different brick and gave it to Gabe with a ‘Gabe have this one’.

Toby has also recently started saying ‘I love you’ (I love you mummy melts my heart every time) and if you ask him who he loves he’ll tell you ‘mummy, daddy and Gabe’ – it’s too cute!

Toby has also taken it upon himself to become Gabe’s official spokesperson. He likes to tell me that Gabe is tired, but this is mostly because he wants me to take him upstairs for a nap because that’s quite often the time I let him play the CBeebies app on my Kindle. Or when I’m getting Gabe something to eat Toby will inform me ‘Gabe doesn’t want it’ or ‘Gabe doesn’t like it’ but there doesn’t seem to be any ulterior motive for that one!

I’ve not really managed to get any good photos of Toby and Gabe together this month. Gabe has been ill for weeks now and unfortunately not really in the mood for photos most of the time. I took this one on my iPhone the other day and it’s a bit blurry but Toby wanted to play Ring O’Roses with Gabe and he seemed to think it was pretty good fun too!

Ring o roses

And although Toby doesn’t look too convinced about me interrupting his breakfast look how excited Gabe is to be sat near his brother.

Breakfast smiles

I thought I would try and grab a few more pictures this morning but it didn’t quite go to plan! Gabe is very ‘grabby’ at the moment and was getting a bit overenthusiastic in his cuddling….

Overenthusiastic cuddles

The Me and Mine Project
- Sarah 7 Comments

Siblings // Toby and Gabe in March

The relationship between Toby and Gabe has continued to develop this month. Toby is very pleased with the fact he can make Gabe laugh and will always tell me when he’s done it which is very sweet. He still veers between being kind and giving Gabe toys and complaining or trying to take them off him when he thinks that they are his. I’m sure that will only get worse as Gabe gets bigger and wants to play with everything!

Gabe is still completely fascinated by Toby and will always give him a smile, even when he’s being totally grumpy with everyone else.

I love the photos that I managed to take of the boys together this month. They were just taken on a morning at home, when Gabe was full of a cold and mostly feeling sorry for himself…but just look at them together.

Brother cuddles

And look how Gabe looks at his big brother…

I love my big brother

Neither of them look entirely convinced about this cuddle though…

Unsure of the cuddle

Toby loves to give his brother kisses on the head…

A kiss for my brother

…But he doesn’t always think about where his hands are going…

Blinded by kisses

I love the pair of them so much and I’m so glad there’s a real bond starting to develop between them. I can’t wait until Gabe is crawling and walking and really big enough to play with his brother.

The Me and Mine Project
- Sarah 8 Comments

Siblings // Toby and Gabe in February

The Siblings Project is curated by the lovely Lucy over at dear beautiful (the same Lucy who is behind Me & Mine). I have always enjoyed reading other people’s siblings posts and when Gabe was born last year I did think about joining in but… as usual life got in the way and I just never seemed to get round to it. Added to which there hasn’t been a huge amount to say about Toby and Gabe’s relationship up to this point.

Siblings February

For the last six months I have watched as Toby has gone from mostly just tolerating his little brother (with the odd flash of affection) to finding him quite interesting some of the time. He is actually now very loving and considerate towards Gabe; he especially likes bringing him toys or sharing food with him (even though Gabe isn’t actually eating anything yet); he sometimes gives him random kisses or holds his hand; and I think the big turning point came when he realised he could make Gabe smile and laugh.

Toby and Gabe February

Gabe absolutely adores his brother already. He always has a smile for Toby even when he’s suffering with teething and a cold like he has been this week. He watches him with such fascination as runs and jumps around the living room. He also likes to show his affection by trying to touch Toby’s face or grab his hair (although Toby’s not so keen on this part).

I managed to capture some lovely moments between my boys on camera this month so I decided it was time I joined in with the siblings project. I’m sure from now on the bond between them is only going to grow…

The Me and Mine Project