Middle

It just dawned on me that Lewis is having a rough time transitioning to middle brother. He's never been a rule follower so it didn't quite click in my head. His behavior lately (but now that I look back more like since Elias was born) has been really terrible despite my best efforts. Like I said, he doesn't care much about rules, but he's been off the charts lately. This week I found him at the next door neighbor's helping make brownies. He's gone in a flash and I can't keep up.

He so desperately wants to have everything to do with his baby brother, but can't quite resist the urge to push on his head or squeeze his feet or talk too loud at him. 

(He is "mowing" here. He had Augustine and I laughing pretty hard because the bouncy seat isn't easy to push on carpet and when it would get stuck he would be so irritated and say "Me mower not working!" and give it a little kick.) He wants to like Elias and help with him but in the midst of helping he is a bit too loud or a bit too wild. He's trying. He really is. 

It'll just take time. And now that I see his struggles maybe I can help him more and be frustrated less. It always baffles me how little perspective I have on my own kids.