Sibling rivalry already?

World War III anyone?

As Christopher becomes more and more mobile, I think Colin becomes more and more stubborn about letting him touch his things. You would think that Christopher was taking his trains or cars or blocks or train tracks or uh, EVERYTHING, and trying to claim them as his own. Granted, he is spitting all over them, which is gross, but it's not the end of the world, right? Well, according to Colin it is.

"MOMMY!!!!! HE'S GETTING MY TRAINS! COME GET HIM! WAAAAAAAH!!!"

He then proceeds to grab him by the ankles and drag him away or he simply pushes him out of the vicinity of his toys. Christopher does not take to this very well, as he has inevitably gone to great pains to get to these toys so that he could chew on them. It usually entails him making a 6 foot crawl, staring longingly at Colin and his toys through the gate, sneaking out of the gate (that should be closed), and then the final lunge to get to whatever it is that he is reaching for. It's quite the workout, I'm sure. So when Colin gets upset, grabs his toy back and pushes Christopher over, I get the wailing cry from Christopher that says, "MOMMY!!! HE WON'T LET ME EAT HIS TOYS AND THAT MAKES ME MAD!!!!" (He doesn't sound very clear, but I swear that's what I hear coming from his mouth.)

We have our living room sectioned off at the moment to try and prevent some of this. The largest area is devoted to Christopher's baby toys (which, incidentally, Colin feels that even though Christopher is not allowed to play with HIS toys, that the same rule doesn't apply to him with the baby toys--he owns those, too) and plenty of room to crawl and play. Then there is a smaller section that Colin uses to build his masterpieces. It doesn't work. Ever. I don't know why we still bother. Maybe I secretly like watching the fights unfold and envisioning our future of fist fights and wrestling matches. Or, I just truly love seeing the adoration of a big brother by his little brother. Christopher absolutely lights up when Colin comes in the room and he will do anything (even fighting the gate) to play with him. It's a beautiful thing. I also think that Colin secretly enjoys knowing that his baby brother loves him so much. This is why he will "allow" Christopher to chase him around the living room giggling the whole time. I know this is just a precursor to the wild life with two boys. Bring it on, boys, bring it on. Momma's gonna win.