Big Brother is Watching

Note: July turned out to be more difficult than I had anticipated.  I had hoped to write an original post for "Dave Weekly," but instead I am publishing a post I had written this month for my baby blog.  My apologies to all those who also subscribe to that blog and are now forced to re-read the same bad jokes.

So far, Kyle seems to be liking his baby brother.  Or rather, he seems to be obsessed with him.  "Kyle wants to see baby Adam!"  "Kyle wants to see baby Adam!"  That's all I hear from him all day.  When he sits down for a meal, he wants to be in a seat where he can view the little guy.  When Kyle rides next to Adam in his stroller, he practically stands in it so that he can see Adam rolling along beside him.  When Adam takes a nap, Kyle wants to watch.  When Adam wants a feeding, Kyle... well, fortunately for Jennifer, Kyle's okay with Adam doing that alone.

And there's more.  While most of us often wait years to relive our childhoods, Kyle's already wanting a return trip down memory lane.  When we tried "tummy time" to terrify Adam...

... Kyle also had to join in.

We clapped when Kyle showed us how well he could roll over.

This obsession is a bit unexpected.  We were hoping Kyle would like Adam, or just get used to having him around.  But instead, for the past month, Kyle's been completely focused on his younger brother.  If Kyle weren't three years old and Adam's sibling, I'd call him a creepy stalker.  Yet, it all seems mostly innocent (keep in mind I say "mostly").  Kyle's even nudging us to do more, often telling us to say "hi" to Adam, or ask "what's the matter, Adam?" when he's crying.  Kyle also makes his own guesses as to what's causing Adam's cries, and he likes to share those with us.  He'll tell us that Adam is hungry, has a dirty diaper, or is going tone-deaf by listening to his daddy's singing. 

Sure, this sounds nice and helpful and all, but the truth is Kyle likes the crying.  He smiles widely when he hears it.  He laughs.  So, naturally, he wants to hear it again.  And that's where the innocence ends.  Many times Kyle hovers around Adam just to get him worked up.  If Adam is sleeping, Kyle will walk up to him and start shouting loudly and incoherently until his little brother wakes up crying.  Kyle then will look up at me and say that Adam needs a diaper change.

A little sibling rivalry might be budding here.  Kyle better be careful.  I think Adam is quietly plotting revenge... 

I can see it in his eyes.