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Luke and his sisters

Yesterday I went to a dentist appointment (no cavities!) and a friend watched Luke and Amanda while I was gone. When I got back, I noticed that Luke was being quite attached to Amanda. He wanted to be where she was, doing whatever she was doing.

For example, Luke noticed that Amanda was sitting on the floor of the kitchen eating a chocolate chip cookie. Luke went over to her, hugged her head, fell over her, backed up to her (his new trick is walking backwards) and tried to sit in her lap, petted her hair, and so on. Some of this attention was unwelcome on Amanda's part, but she generally liked it.

A bit later Amanda was sitting in a wheeled walker toy. Luke was pushing her across the floor. When they ran into something, Amanda would move it out of the way and tell Luke to keep pushing. This is especially impressive considering that Amanda is 27 pounds and Luke is 19.

He will go over to his sisters during dinner and beg food from their plates (they happily oblige). They try to find new tricks that make him laugh. Eleanor says: "I like to make Luke screech! It means he's happy!"

This attachment isn't always helpful, though: yesterday evening as I was trying to get Amanda into her jammies (pajammies, as she says) Eleanor was playing with Luke. She had the idea of getting the play tent up on our bed and then lifting Luke up to play with him on the bed. Although he can get off the bed without falling (under direct supervision), this time he fell and bit his tongue, which made him very sad. Eleanor was sad that she had hurt Luke, and as punishment she is not allowed to pick him up for a while. Sometimes I forget that she is still just 6.

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