Middle Child Syndrome

I've had some really sweet times with Little Brother recently and it got me thinking about birth order ...we've all heard the middle child 'stereotypes' and the laughingly-delivered-but-still-serious complaints of those who wandered in the wilderness between first and last borns.
"My big sister gets to do all the fun stuff"
"My little brother never has to do any chores...and he gets away with everything!"
"There are no photos of me..."

My sweet little one suddenly finds himself a middle child but as we (sort of) find ourselves into (sort of) a routine after the birth of Baby Brother, I've been thinking that LB actually has it pretty good right now. While Big Brother has been away at pre-school all morning, baby is *usually* asleep for an hour sometime in there. That means that LB gets Mommy's full and undivided attention. We have had some wonderful moments together in the last couple weeks.
 Just the other day, he came to me while I was cleaning up in the kitchen, held his blanky up in the air, and said, "snuggle??" I said, "Let me finish up quickly, then do you want me to read you a story?"
 "Yes," he said, and went running for the couch. He just turned 2... 'yes' is not his most frequently used word right now. So a 'yes' filled with excitement and anticipation just melts this Mama's heart!
 Here we are enjoying morning time together

We also found ourselves together this past weekend while daddy took Big Brother to t-ball and Baby Brother was taking an afternoon nap. It was a beautiful day so we hung out in the backyard together. We planted some flowers, he got to use (experiment with) the hose...it was a relaxed and fun afternoon, just the two of us.

My big helper:

 So I'm thinking that, at least right now, he actually has a pretty good deal going. My hope is that he'll break the middle child mold and won't feel "squeezed out, with the older and younger children getting more attention"
 Love you, my sparkly one!!