Tyler's teachers are always telling me how much he loves his brother. They are separated most of the day, and usually reunited around 4:00 in the afternoons. The other day, he ran straight over to Baby and kissed him 15 times, according to Ms. Falon. And yesterday, he laid down on Baby's blanket next to him, gently patting his head. Ms. Andrea said she was really nervous and kept a watchful eye but he never got carried away or did anything close to hurting Baby. They can't believe it. He really is a doting big brother. I attribute much of this sweet behavior to one episode of Sesame Street we happened to record right after Baby was born. Elmo (Tyler's hero) pretends to be a big brother, learning to hold, diaper, and take care of a baby doll. As Elmo is learning, he gets carried away with rocking the doll and it goes flying out of his arms, landing in a nearby tree. Every time Tyler watches this he cries and gets very concerned for the baby. This is excellent compassion.

Tyler & I got flu shots yesterday. I picked him up from school saying we were going to the doctor. Dotor? Dotor? the whole drive there. He made friends with everyone in the waiting room, definitely making the day of a few senior citizens. Then it was our turn. First he sat on my lap and watched me get the shot. He was very interested. Then it was his turn. He watched intently as they prepped the shot, rubbed his leg with a swab of rubbing alcohol, and stuck the needle in his leg. Then he realized this was all very wrong, cried two big screams and then it was over. He got a sticker and we left, no more tears. Big boy. We had time to kill before picking up Gavin so I took him to a store that had Christmas stuff out. There was a 5-foot tall dancing Santa and some lit up reindeer. Tyler was scared of the Santa at first, he looked very real. But after he realized Santa was dancing he decided that was cool. He kept calling the reindeer goats. Not too far off, I guess. So, we talked all about how Santa comes to kids homes, gives them presents, says "Ho Ho Ho" and flies off with his reindeer. When we got home and told Daddy what we learned about Santa, Tyler mimicked the dance Santa was doing perfectly. He is just a little sponge!