Oh, Jealousy

For the most part, it seems that Clio is over any momentary jealousy she may have felt when Eleri came to town and shook things up a bit. And I must say, this is quite a feat for someone who is very interested in the notion of possession ("This is mine? Who gave it to me?" is a constant refrain in our house); even more so for someone interested in ownership who has unwittingly given everything that was once hers over to a new small person who is already hogging time and attention from the adults in the house. Take this photo.
Eleri is in Clio's car seat, wearing a sweatshirt and pants that were early gifts to Clio from her proud daddy, sporting a hat that our friend Emily actually hand-knit for Clio back in the day, and holding a rattle from Clio's playmat. This is a typical day. Clio take much of it in stride, saying things like, "when I was a baby, I wore that hat? And now I'm big." But every once in a while, it's just way too much for a two year old to take. For example: Eleri has discovered how to turn pages in a board book; so naturally, while Clio spends most of her time trying to get us to do things for her (at the top of the stairs: "Carry me!" Over dinner, "feed me!"), she is suddenly compelled to dive right in and turn every page of every book we read together. She sits all tensed up like a big cat waiting for its prey, then pounces at the very moment that Eleri reaches for the page, using her considerably superior agility to ensure that Eleri WILL NOT TURN A SINGLE PAGE.

Or how about this: Normally, when Eleri goes into the exersaucer Clio very sweetly says "When I am a baby I go in the exersaucer?" But this morning she wanted in on that action.
Do you see an extra set of legs? Yes, you do.
Later in the day, when Clio had an intense flush on her cheeks for the second day running, I popped my finger in her mouth and discovered that she is, in fact, teething. Dave and I just looked at each other and mouthed, "Thank god."