Another first

I am not very good at recording the "firsts"of childhood, especially when it comes to Eve. She's number 3 and it's a cliche, but really I wasn't very good at it with Alice or Jackie, I just felt more guilt over it then. Now, I have made peace and so rather than feeling guilty over all the dates I have forgotten and not recorded I instead:

1. focus on giving sooo much love now that they will not require a report of all their significant dates to prove that I love them.

2. Tell them funny stories of what they did when they were babies, over and over, untill they become the stuff legends

3. Encourage them to keep their own journal, even before they can write (delegation: a life saver) and

4. When all else fails, make something up! The Lord blessed me with creativity for a reason , right?

But completely out of character, I am going to record a milestone that Eve reached today. Are you excited? Of course you are!

It is hereby recorded, that on this, the 23 day of June, 2011 that Eve Rasmussen, 2 days shy of her 4th birthday, demonstrated the ability to relentlessly tease a sibling. Yes, today she successfully teased her older sister until she cried. ( without the tears, it doesn't really count)

The tormented sister: a very tired Jackie

The method of teasing: a classic yet effective copy cat. A strategy that is really elegant in it's simplicity.

A yes, this is the first of my children to successfully complete the difficult feat of teasing an older sibling without the experience of teasing a younger sibling, yet even without that valuable experience she still managed to dethrone Jackie, who was in kindergarten when she finally found success with the phras: "I will call up all your friends and tell them not to come to your birthday party".(Obviously, Alice made it hard on Jackie. She had to work for months before she found success, You don't come up with a phrase like that on your first try. )

I didn't hear the whole conversation, but what I heard went something like this:

Jackie: That's annoying

Eve: That's annoying

Jackie: Eve stop it

Eve: Eve stop it

Jackie: Eve, this is so dumb

Eve: Eve, this is so dumb

And, BLAMMO - Jackie burst into tears. (it is fun to say blammo - go ahead and say it out loud - blammo - SEE!)

What was my response? Like any good mother, I gave Jackie a hug and told Eve that she should be nice and not try to be annoying on purpose to upset Jackie. I had to smile at the look of utter satisfaction on Eve's face though. She definitely got what she wanted and I had to say,

"My baby's all grown up and teasing her sister, (sniff sniff)."

So that's the story. Sorry, no pictures. But what would you like, a picture of Jackie crying? Or Eve looking smug?

And now that I think of it, I do not remember ever successfully teasing my older sister. I remember getting teased and then hitting her and then getting in trouble ( that happened a lot). However, I do remember relentlessly teasing my youngest brother with the " you're adopted, we found you on our doorstep when you were a baby". It used to get him every time. Children can be so cruel. Let's hope that Eve sticks with being a copy cat.