Vivian and Evan

Vivian takes her self-appointed role of being Evan's Big Sister quite seriously.

We'd heard stories of jealousy by older siblings on the arrival of the new one. Vivian was the center of our universe for the last three years and she was well aware of that. So we were at least a bit apprehensive. On the other hand, from the time we had shared the news of Jo's pregnancy with Vivian, we tried to frame it as a good thing for all of us. Hey, wow - you get to be the Big Sister. And to her credit she's always been very positive about it.

Vivian and I work through the usual bouts of "I want Mommy to put me to bed". And in the days soon after Evan's birth, Vivian became quite a bit more clingy to Jo and had a few minor episodes of backtracking to behaving like she was younger than she was. But in general, her desire to be "A Big Girl" generally wins out.

Recently, she has taken to trying to hug and kiss and hold Evan with much vigor, with constant reminders of "be gentle". Frequently, The Corner is called in to help with her hearing and memory.

When Evan cries in the car, Vivian steps in to do her part. She sings her heart out. And the strangest thing is that it usually works. Evan calms down and listens to her sing.

Here are two pictures of the two of them together. Jo took the second one while the two of them were rolling on a blanket on the floor one morning.