Siblings

 There are no words adequate enough to explain how much I love and adore these children. I remember being pregnant with Phineas and worrying about how I was going to build a bridge from the great sibling relationship that Atticus and Milayla had been building to Phineas so that they could all have it together. It was actually the cause of a lot of concern and worry.

Then Phineas arrived. And it was so immediately clear that it wasn't going to be a problem. Atticus and Milayla embraced him so fully and couldn't get enough of him. And as Phineas has grown and learned to understand and do more that relationship just keeps growing and strengthening with it.

Seeing them play together is incredible. Yes, they do get into spats every once and a while, but for the most part they really just love being with each other and helping each other.

Atticus and Milayla have gotten really good at showing Phineas how to do different things which Phineas delights in because he is in a full mimic stage by pretending to cook things in the play kitchen, blowing kisses, giving LOTS of hugs, and zooming toy cars around the play room. Phineas has such a love for his big siblings and will give them the biggest, sweetest hugs all the time.

Meanwhile, Atticus and Milayla have become quite the team in conjuring up new games, pretend games, duplo castles, lego houses, and make believe worlds. And they are really great at making sure that Phineas gets to be part of those as well (all but Lego - Phineas still tries to eat lego).

I wouldn't be surprised if Phineas is on the bike the soonest of all three kiddos so that he can bike with Atticus and Milayla. Milayla, who has shown her great determination, dedication and grit at work when she became an expert at cycling in just a couple weeks. Milayla and Atticus have been cycled to church with us! (I'll be honest, that was a little nerve wracking on the parent side of things because, while the streets there aren't busy, there wasn't always a side walk for them to ride on so we've been putting them in the bakfiets for now).

And while the kids all have this great bond together, it's been really something to see their individual bonds with each other grow. Milayla and Phineas are always fun to watch. Phineas will snuggle right up to her and give her hugs. Then with his little grunts, syllable sounds and few words he will talk her ear off like they are in a full conversation. They will squish into a laundry basket together just to play in a different way and Phineas will care for Milayla's baby dolls just like he has seen her do. They have a very sweet and sincere bond. To give you just a very small glimpse of that, when Phineas sees Milayla at church (on the days when he comes to Primary with me or happens to see me in the hallway) he runs for Milayla and gives her a huge hug. Oh, and there is Phineas' new interest in colouring and drawing right along side her.

Then there is Atticus and Milayla. The two that don't remember having ever been without each other. They love each other so much and are the best of friends. They just get each other really well. Hearing them have conversations is the greatest of gifts. As Milayla has ventured into the world of reading, Atticus has been a wonderful source of encouragement and love as he recounts things to her that he found hard when he was beginning to learn to read. And Milayla adores when she gets to show Atticus new things that she learned. They are both so smart and quick at learning (actually, all three of them are!) and they love learning together. And when these two play together, there is never any problem figuring out what to play - they have the imagination and ingenuity (and energy!) at full speed. And what's even more - they love to be helpers to one another. It's awesome. They often get asked if they are twins.

And one cannot forget the brothers. Atticus and Phineas. The picture of the two of them says so much without saying a word. Phineas gets a lot of his physical expressions from watching his big siblings and there are definitely some facial expressions that he shares with Atticus. These two can completely immerse in play together with cars, cooking in the play kitchen, and playing tag. Atticus loves being a big brother and having ways to be a helper with Phineas (which is great because Phineas is in full exploration mode these days!). They have such a great brother relationship and Atticus does really well at showing Phineas different ways to play and use his imagination.

I sure hope these kiddos grow up knowing how lucky and blessed they are to have one another. I sure know how blessed I am to have them!