Sibling Rivalry- Brotherly Love

Welcoming new baby sister Elyse

I remember the moment very well.  It was less than an hour after Elyse was born and a 2.5 year old Kieran came into the hospital room.  He climbed up in the bed next to me and looked at his new baby sister.  He smiled at her and whispered, "I just love her."  It was the perfect moment, and I had dreams of these two always being the best of friends.  Well, fast forward 3.5 years.  Now we have an active 6 year old who loves playing with Legos and defending the neighborhood with his gang of boys.  On the other side of the spectrum we have an active 3 year old who plans to grow up to be a princess and a fairy, and, frankly, expects to be treated that way now!  She loves her brother and knows him so well that she know just which button to push to drive him absolutely CRAZY.  She wants to play with the boys, but comes in crying if they "shoot" her or attack her with a sword (seriously, what princess wants to be attacked?).  She pulls apart his Lego creations and jumps on top of him at random moments throughout the day.  He is rarely amused by her attention.  Sometimes they are at each others' throats all day.  I don't have any brothers so this sister-brother thing is new territory for me!

Elyse before she could get into his toys!

Every now and then, God sends me a reminder that my kids do love each other, and that He created them for each other.  Recently, we were in Whitney, TX visiting some new friends and (surprise, surprise) Elyse fell face first on a rocky, dirt road.  Of course, she got a small pebble lodged in her head.  Despite all our attempts, we could not get it out, and ended up taking her to a med center to have it removed.  Kris, our host, and Elyse headed to the doctor, and I stayed at the house with Kieran.  Soon after they left, I could tell that Kieran was upset.  He asked if we could go for a walk.  As we headed out of the house, he said, "Mommy, is Elyse going to be okay?  I don't know what life would be like without a sister.  She's the only sister I've got!  She isn't going to die, is she?"  I assured him that Elyse was going to be fine and we spent the next 20 minutes or so walking and praying for his sister. 

Thankfully, Elyse did survive the rock removal.  As expected, less than 24 hours later, they were fighting over sitting in my lap and trying to get on each other's last nerve, but I knew that deep down inside there was a lot of love between that little sister and her big brother. 

 Kieran and Elyse