Security Blanket

Since very, very early on, it has seemed as though Jensen liked his sister just a tad bit more than his sister liked him. From the time his little eyes were able to focus, he looked at her. From the time he was able to truly smile, he would smile at his sis. And he has always found her simply hilarious. And throughout that time, Charlotte seemed almost indifferent to her brother's presence. That's why my favorite picture of my two kids remains (and might always remain) this one:

This was the first day Charlotte actually seemed to notice and appreciate that there was another little person who just happened to be with her all the time. She seemed to really like this little guy. (Or perhaps it was just the reindeer costume.) And as you can see, he absolutely soaked up the attention from his beloved sis.

Nowadays, Charlotte likes to talk a big game about not liking her brother. She squawks in discontent when he interrupts something she's doing or even sits too close to her in the bathtub (true story). She loves to tattle on him by running and telling me, "No no, Jensen Todd!" whenever she finds him doing something she thinks is naughty. But with the implementation of Singleton Days, Charlotte has found herself spending time away from her brother for the first time in her little life, and you know what? I don't think she likes it!

As soon as we drop Jensen off at Grandma's she begins saying, "Bye, bye, Jensen Todd" and that phrase is repeated probably 50 times during the day. She repeats "Jensen Todd?" throughout the day as if to ask where he is, and I have to reassure her that we will see him soon. She has started asking for Jensen when she wakes up from naps and if he is still asleep she likes to play on the stairs outside his room until he wakes up (aka she wakes him up). We have decided that he's like her little security blanket and since she's never really been without him, she needs to have him around in order to feel like all is right with the world.

The best part comes at night when I put her in bed and tell her goodnight. We go through our routine "night-night, Mommy" etc. and then, each and every night for the past few weeks as I close the door, she yells out, "I love you Jensen Todd!" at the top of her little lungs. As sweet as it is when she tells me she loves me, it's even sweeter when she tells me she loves her brother. The bond between these two is growing by the day and I absolutely cannot imagine having one without the other.