Before Arlo's birth, I was a little concerned about Moby's transition from Only Child to Big Brother. I thought we might have some rough, jealous times ahead before settling in to being a family of four. I've been pleasantly surprised at how well Moby relates to Arlo. From the very beginning, Moby was interested in Arlo. For some reason, however, Moby insists on calling Arlo "the baby" and only rarely "Arlo". Moby also has adjusted well to how much time I need to spend with Arlo, my reduced activity as I recover from the birth, and the result that Seth takes care of more of Moby's needs. It sometimes makes me sad that he doesn't even ask me to pick him up or take him somewhere instead running straight to Daddy, even if rationally I know that he's sensibly responding to a new reality.

23 May

23 May

Moby continues to request to hold the baby, sometimes at random moments in the day, and very consistently in the evening as part of saying goodnight to everyone.

23 May	29 May
9 June	14 June, at Flea Street Cafe

Seth bought Moby a baby doll. Moby immediately named the doll Arlo. He's changed the doll's diaper, or rather removed the diaper and requested help putting it back on. He has also put the doll in a cart and pushed it all the way to day care (about half a mile), much as we sometimes push him in his stroller. This is in spite of his usual dislike of walking the distance and insistence: "Pick me up!"

30 May

30 May

Rather than expressing jealousy towards Arlo, for the most part Moby instead decides he wants to do whatever Arlo is doing. He will lay down next to Arlo and insist on being covered with a blanket, for example.

25 May	1 June
6 June	17 June

In the same vein, Moby has reverted to drinking milk from a bottle. Oftentimes when I'm nursing Arlo, Moby insists he wants a bottle of milk, and we hold a family milk activity.

23 May

17 June

It's been funny to watch Moby take over Arlo's furniture.

9 June

20 June

Moby likes to bring toys to the baby. Seth helpfully pointed out that Moby has too many toys to play with them by himself, so Arlo can help him play with more of his toys at once. Moby has commented since: "The baby is helping me play with my toy."

24 May

26 May

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