(This was written in February of 2009—we just never got around to posting it.)

Yep, they're not even a year old and they're already acting like true brother and sister. Of course, they've kind of been doing that since they were in the womb having kickity fights (an old term from my childhood) with each other. At our 20-week ultrasound, Ella couldn't keep her feet off Luke's head. When they were about 2½ months old and sharing the same crib, Luke couldn't keep his feet off Ella's tummy. When they were about 9 months old, they couldn't stop pulling each other's hair. When they were about 10 months old, they couldn't keep their hands out of the other one's eyes, ears, mouth. And now, if it's close to nap time and they get too close in proximity, somebody is going to get pushed or bonked. The evolution of brother-sister acts has been interesting to watch. And it continues. Here's a little taste, for those of you girls who don't have a brother, this is what you would have been subjected to if you did:

Wet willies

Spontaneous tackling

Being pinned on the floor until you're red in the face

Arm wrestling

Staring contests

Having a partner in crime

Having someone to blame things on

Having someone to frame and then tease later

Having someone to play with

Having someone to push you around a little when you need it (and vise versa, of-course)

Having someone to look up to and someone to look up to you

Having someone to be silly with

Having someone to laugh with

Having someone to cry with

Having a shoulder lean on

And having a best friend who's always there, in good times and bad

Let's hear it for brothers and sisters!