August 03, 2006: Big Sisterhood

The months since Ivan was born have at times been strenuous for Veronika and her parents. A few of the reasons: potty-training regression, refusal to nap and a stretch of a few weeks where every request would be either delayed ("I'm coming, I'm coming..."), ignored or flat-out denied. She has occasionally been much more needy and difficult to deal with than her infant brother. However the clouds have been clearing lately with the arrival of Aunt Tessa and a well-timed vacation, so let's not dwell on the negative. Here are a few things that are helping us to forget the hard times already:

• Never has there been a sweeter big sister in the world. Ivan is just captivated by her and all her affection and mothering.
• You should see her dance, especially anything sufficiently ballroom and dramatic involving twirling, lifts and/or scarves. She absolutely loves So You Think You Can Dance and rewatched all of the waltz routines that we taped for her until she had them approximately memorized. She may well be a ballerina.
• The facial expressions and hand gestures are becoming quite entertaining. It's usually obvious where she picks them up but it's still hard to keep a straight face when she puts up that knowing, worried brow and nods her head.