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Ila is still the sibling that shows the most interest in Thomas.  She loves to climb up next to me when I’m holding him and give him hugs and kisses.  When she hears him cry she says “it’s ok, Thomas” and hugs him or puts his pacifier in his mouth.  She hugs and kisses him all day long whether he’s in the swing, on the floor, or in the bouncer.  Unfortunately, she doesn’t just hug him when he’s awake.  He often sleeps in his swing and she regularly wakes him up with her hugs and kisses.  The other day she was buckled into her seat at the table when she heard him cry and she said “I need Thomas!”  Which meant that she needed to be unbuckled so that she could comfort him and help him stop crying.  She is always so gentle and loving towards him, I can’t wait to see their relationship develop as he grows.At Church, Isaac heard me telling someone about how affectionate Ila is to her little brother and I think he was a little jealous because since that time, he has been asking to hold Thomas more and he has been talking to Thomas and trying to make him smile more often.  I want to foster a good bond between my boys and help Isaac feel like he doesn’t need to compete with Ila, so I have been making comments about how Thomas will enjoy playing with his big brother when he gets older and how Isaac will be able to teach him about all sorts of boy things.  I can tell Isaac likes those ideas because he usually contributes to my comments and says things like “you’d be really happy if Thomas was just like me when he’s my age, right?”Nicole is the child who has shown the most jealousy towards Thomas.  The following scenario has happened more than once:  Nicole is playing happily when Thomas starts to cry.  She stops playing and comes between me and Thomas and says “I don’t want Thomas.” (meaning she doesn’t want me to go pick him up and comfort him).  She also likes to tell me to “put Thomas in the swing,” when I’m holding him and she wants something.  I try not to be unavailable to her when I’m taking care of him and to help her show affection to him, but she is often so rough with her affection that I have to moderate her interactions for fear that she’ll hurt him.  She has had some moments when she has seemed to like him (or has at least treated him like a really fun doll).Charlotte generally likes Thomas, but she doesn’t interact with him as much as Isaac or Ila.