Big Sister Syndrome

Amara has been exhibiting this great big-sister behavior that seems typical for so many big sisters. She bosses Ethan around constantly, but she also helps him so much and takes amazing care of him in so many ways. Here they are playing in the tent they built. I peeked in a few times and did a lot of eavesdropping. For awhile they were laying down "sleeping", then they were hiding from Bruce the shark (Finding Nemo!), and eventually they played with Polly Pockets. This was all carefully orchestrated by Amara, and she scolded Ethan when he claimed once that Bruce was coming and they needed to hide again, because only she is able to announce Bruce's arrival. He is only able to announce the other sharks approaching.
The other night at dinner, she talked nonstop to Ethan - encouraging him to eat, and talking to him about all the other things that were going on. Tonight my mom was making some gravy, and Amara wanted to help. She did her best by making her own "fattening." (My mom used some flour to "thicken" up the broth, and Amara translated it to "fatten.") Anyways, she diligently mixed water and flour in a little cup. Then Ethan came in, and she convinced him that he needed to make his own fattening. She walked him through everything, got everything out for him, helped him pick a cup to pour it in, and put it up on the table for him. (BTW-he insisted in tasting it after all that hard work. He wasn't impressed.)
The point of all this rambling is to give a couple of examples of Amara's big sisterly antics. And don't worry - we still have our share of grabbing and craziness, too.