If you’ve been following our journey (i.e., most recently, welcoming Sarah into our family), you may recall that Ethan has struggled in this process, especially in the early days and weeks. Now that Sarah has been with us nearly six months, we’ve noticed recently that, while Ethan still has his moments, he is starting to show some greater signs of caring for Sarah.
For example, when she use to cry/scream (perhaps while traveling a longer distance in the car seat), Ethan would tell her, rather emphatically, to “Stop screaming!” Now, he’s much more likely to try to soothe her. And while he’s not yet completely ready to share his toys with Sarah, he is more open to playing with her (though there’s still a lot of room for improvement!).
On a couple of occasions, Ethan has tried to help Sarah learn to walk by holding her hand. The challenge, though, is in getting him to slow down to Sarah’s speed!
We noticed another area of growth during the two nights we spent in Lancaster, PA this week. Both nights, Sarah woke up in her crib, crying, and then spent the last few hours of the night in our bed. A few weeks/months ago, Ethan, who slept in the other queen bed in the room, would not have been happy about that arrangement! But it didn’t seem to phase him this week.
Edited to say that during dinner, following the kids’ naps when I wrote this post, I noticed another first: Ethan and Sarah spent several moments making each other laugh. One would look at the other and laugh, making the other one laugh. Another sign that they are interacting more and more — due both to Sarah’s development AND Ethan’s adjustment!
As our transition continues to move along, it’s good to see some signs of growth along he way!