Our Second Firstborn

At three and a half years of age, Tobin is still a little guy; but whatever you do, don't tell him that.  He thinks of himself as quite a grown-up fellow, especially when his little brother is around.

Tobin has developed quite a knack for bossing Shav around.  "Do this, Oddy!" I'll hear Tobin say.  ("Oddy" is Tobin's current {mis}pronunciation of Shavi.  A few times, I've heard the "sh" sound come at the beginning as Tobin calls his little brother, but I'm not sure that's an improvement.  After all, who wants to be called "Shoddy"???)  :)  "Get this tricycle, Oddy!"  "Go this way!"  "Get in the boat, Oddy!" "Put the car there!"  "Follow me!"  The commands are constant.  It's clear to anyone listening that when these two boys play together, Tobin is in charge.

Mercifully, Shav goes along with it!  Oh, occasionally, he'll squeal a protest; but almost always, he is his next biggest brother's willing accomplice with whatever scheme Tobin is dreaming up.  I don't know how long his compliance will last; but for now--for this stage of their development--it makes for mostly peaceful play times.

I know the child development and birth order experts would say that with only a gap of two years and nine months between Tobin and David, Tobin can't really be considered a second firstborn (don't you need a gap of at least five years to produce that situation?).  But if you didn't know what "the experts" said and just listened to my third child's bossiness, you might think he was acting like the stereotypical oldest child.

At the very least, you might marvel at his...shall we say?...emerging leadership skills.  ;-)