In true “little brother” fashion, Liam likes everything Benjamin likes.  Whatever Benjamin is eating, watching or playing with, Liam wants it too.  Whatever Liam sees Benjamin doing, he is going to try.  It’s resulted in some really cute behavior, like Liam already climbing up onto B’s tricycle (although he can’t yet reach the pedals), and Liam already attempting to figure out how to ride B’s bike (although he’ll need to gain a few inches before that’s possible).  Generally, it’s cute to see Liam trying to be like his big brother.

In true “big brother” fashion, whatever Liam has, Benjamin wants, too.  This results in the charming phenomenon where toys which have lain neglected for years suddenly become points of contention as Liam picks them up for the first time and Benjamin subsequently decides it is the only toy that will possibly make him happy in that moment.  Benjamin’s typical response to this is to snatch the toy from Liam, which results in a lot of crying and screaming, often on both their parts (as Liam is getting big enough to snatch back).  We’re trying to encourage Benjamin to offer Liam a trade (which works sometimes), but often the best B can do, if he manages not to steal Liam’s toy, is to stomp his feet and declare “All the toys are mine!” or, “Mine, mine, mine!” for short.

Which is actually kind of cute and funny, and I completely sympathize with the feeling.  But Liam has also started working on talking, and, as I mentioned, he likes to imitate B.  So now they both know how to say, “Mine, mine, mine!”  In fact, Liam only has a few words he says consistently:  no, cookie, dada, Bailey, “vuh vuh” (the sound a dog makes), quack . . . and mine.  One day, maybe B will use this power to influence his little brother for good.  For now, everything is “mine”, to both of them.