Video: Sylvia dancing; Tavio peeking

Things continue to be challenging with the transition from one kid to two. Sylvia is missing her Mama in new, intense ways and, consequently, is pushing limits even harder at the same time that she goes through periods of clinginess. I am often in the unenviable position (like tonight) of having my toddler pulling on my body crying, "Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama!" while my baby wails, not content with Daddy's arms. For both Kevin and I, every day is exhausting in one way or another.

We treasure moments of delight. We continue to find our children's growing relationship with each other touching and astounding.

Tavio now insists on watching part of Sylvia's bath every night. This evening, he refused to continue his dinner once Sylvia left for her bath. I had to drag his highchair to the bathroom where, with his big sister in view, he happily resumed chowing down on his sweet potatoes.

Sylvia can be ambivalent about sharing her toys, but occasionally she surprises us by presenting her baby brother with a toy that we know is special to her. She can also demonstrate a fierce protectiveness. Kevin reported her saying, "No, Tavio! That's not a good toy for you. You're too little, you just came out of Mama's tummy."

Here's a couple of other sweet moments. I took this video of Sylvia yesterday after we got back from day care. She has really gotten into her Jazzmatazz book, which has spun off into a fascination with tap dancing. Here's her version, based on videos she has watched with Daddy. (Try watching this full screen. I keep forgetting that I should shoot video on the iPhone horizontally!) 

And here's a video I took of Tavio today, which is pretty self-explanatory! What I should explain, however, is that the reason this is in French is that I have French days and Spanish days with Tavi. I don't think I'll be able to truly raise him trilingual, but I am attempting to prime him for these languages while he's still a "universal speaker."

Of course, during our days in real time, Sylvia wakes up Tavio when he's napping by running down the hallway and screaming, Tavio pulls Sylvia's hair, Sylvia snatches toys away from him, he tries to crawl on and chew the book she's reading... And both of them are driving their parents crazy. We asked for this, but we also had no idea what we were in for!

Now I'm going to go to bed and try to get some sleep...