Intent to Injure

If you read my last post, you'll know about what a stalwart daughter we have and her ability to ignore the pain her brother can inflict. No flinching or reacting to Isaac's little nibble until it was done. I believe she just decided to wait to respond.

It took 10 months and 3 weeks for Dylan to go after Isaac with the intention of injuring him. Maybe not really the intention to hurt him, but certainly she reacted out of anger to get him to stop what he was doing. Here's how it all went down...

Dylan enjoys sitting on the couch downstairs. She brings over her blankets and crawls up onto the couch with her dolls and books and asks me to help put both blankets on her. This happens multiple times a day and we always need to fix the blankets if a toe or a foot is sticking out. Today was no different. I laid both blankets across her and she sat quietly reading and laying next to me.

Isaac was on my lap at the time. It was close to lunch time, which means close to nap time, which means Isaac is clingy and wants to be held. But he's also antsy. He decided that the toy next to Dylan's leg looked exciting and he rolled off my lap to crawl across the couch to get a closer look. Unfortunately, this toy was on top of the blanket and when Isaac crawls he tends to grab whatever he can to inch himself forward. In this case, the blanket.

You can probably guess that Dylan freaked. First she started whining and grabbing hold of the blanket. When that didn't work she attempted to push Isaac off the couch. That didn't work because I had a good hold on him so she started to kick at him. As that didn't get him to stop either (and please don't ask what I was doing, Dylan went through each of these phases in nanoseconds so I really couldn't prevent what happened next) She started slapping at Isaac and reared back with her beaded necklace and swiped it across his face. She was mad.

But Isaac's reaction was worse. He went beserk. If you know Isaac at all, you know how even tempered he is. He's happy. Always. Even when he's hungry or tired, he's happy. Boy, he was not happy when he got whipped in the face with a plastic necklace. He cried and cried and I of course got angry with Dylan, took her necklace away and told her she hurt Isaac.

What happened next made me think that all might just be okay between these Bailey siblings.

As I stood and tried to calm Isaac down, Dylan looked at me and said, "Isaac crying, Isaac sad." I told her that yes, he was sad because she hit him and hurt him. She jumped right off the couch and came and gave me a hug. I sat down and she put her arms around Isaac, kissed the side of his head and said, "Sorry." It melted my heart. She said she was sorry twice, without being asked, just because she knew that what she'd done was wrong, and Isaac was crying because of it.

Of course, Isaac laughed because Dylan was right in his face and they started giggling together so I knew all was forgiven in his mind. Forgiven yes, but not forgotten. He grabbed a fist full of Dylan's hair before she got back on the couch and that resulted in Dylan's tears. Too bad Isaac doesn't understand to say "sorry" yet, but since he grabs her hair often, Dylan understands that Isaac didn't mean to hurt her.

I think today gave me a glimpse of what the future holds for these two.

They may hurt each other and not want the other one around at times, but I have a feeling they'll be quick to apologize and even quicker to forgive....and forget.