Being a big brother to twins is a challenging role. When my brother found out we were expecting twins he said, “Konrad won’t know what hit him…”. Maybe this once my brother was right…Ever since Lara and Liliana came home Konrad seems to try and figure out how they fit into his life and what they can do or be used for ;) Evolving Science experiments are the most consistent way Konrad has decided to integrate them into his life so far…
Physics:
101: When Liliana and Lara first were able to sit up by themselves, Konrad would sit between their legs and lean backwards until the lucky baby fell backwards. Then Konrad would help them back up and start all over again.
102: Then Lara and Liliana started to crawl and are pretty quick about getting to the toys that Konrad is playing with. Despite their best of intentions ,their fine motor skills are still a bit rusty and although I am sure they were trying to help their brother with the tower or other creation he is building or playing with, they usually end up knocking it over…Konrad response was to usually push them away. The push is for some reason always directed at the face, which I guess gets the most immediate scream from the baby being pushed, which gets an adults attention and then eventually the baby is moved away (picked up and consoled by the adult).
103: About a month ago both girls started to pull themselves up to the standing position. Since they are not able to stand by themselves yet they hold on tightly to what ever is near by. Sometimes the object that they depend on to remain standing is Konrads high chair or bed…In either case Konrad pries their little fingers off the object and then seems somewhat surprised (yet satisfied) that Liliana and/or Lara plop to the ground giving out a cry of defeat.
104: Konrad has recently decided that he wants to carry either baby. In the beginning I told him that he must put his arms under the babys arms to carry her (before he would just grab the head and try to pick her up in a semi head lock). I must say that he is generally pretty careful when he carries them although my heart often skips a beat from nervousness each time he picks one up. Ninety percent of the time both Liliana and Lara get the biggest smiles on their faces whenever there brother picks them up and moves them so I try not to intervene too often and just provide verbal guidance, although I find myself trying to anticipate the worst-case scenario and ready to intervene if necessary.
Konrad seems to have an ability to block everything out except what he is concentrating on at the moment. The kind of concentration you wish you had when you are trying to read a scientific paper in a noisy place or when you are trying to take a test or study and others are talking next to you. Just one example of this is last week when I ran a block after him down the street to tell him to stop…I was a bit frustrated he didn’t stop when I first asked him to and tried to explain it to him once I reached him and picked him up…”Konrad you can’t run down the street away from mommy, there could be cars and it is not safe” all he responded (totally oblivious to my concern and frustration), “Mommy what is the trailer for?” as he looked at the large truck pulling a generator trailer…How nice it must be to focus so entirely upon one thing.
For some reason people usually refer to the second year of life as the terrible twos…
Since the Liliana and Lara were born Konrad has felt the need to have TWO of many things. First, it started with his pacifiers (we use the German word Schnulli’s)…he can even put two in his mouth at the same time! Then he added two babies (dolls) and sometimes even takes both with him to school, on some trips and other occasions. Recently he has also requested to use two toothbrushes…Before bed Konrad also likes to be read two books (although he says 2 he actually brings a pile of 5 or more books).
On one occasion Konrad even tried three schnulli’s in his mouth. The one advantage to having three is that he can give one to Liliana and one to Lara and he still has one for himself! see pictures below…
