More and more interaction

There is still a lot of parallel play between the boys, but increasingly they seem aware of the other and his wants and needs. Since they had their tummy troubles last week Beck has been cautious about what he eats, so he mostly eats enormous breakfasts (like, four bowls of cereal and several cups of milk) and mostly wants to drink milk. So lunch and dinner usually go like this: we hand Beck a cup of milk with his dinner, he drinks the entire cup of milk in one swig, and then, without touching the food, asks for more milk. Our standard operating procedure has become to suggest he eats his food but not get him more milk. So Theo has taken to advocating for Beck. He will quietly observe what's going on, then hold up his own cup and ask for more milk (when his cup is nearly full). When we try to tell him that he has milk in his cup, he points to Beck's cup and says "more!". Good try, Theo. Beck often summons me when Theo is getting into trouble, helpfully pointing to the bad behavior.

Their trading schemes are becoming more complex now, too. Beck has learned that often when he shows interest in something, Theo suddenly also wants the same thing. Now when Beck wants something Theo has, or even something that is at that moment idle, Beck will initially feign interest in something else to distract Theo away from the real target of his attention. When Theo starts playing with the first item, Beck immediately leaves it to start playing with the other thing, taking advantage of the fact that Theo is now absorbed with the first thing. Beck is also getting bolder about fighting back when Theo tries to take things away from him. For a long time, Beck would simply relinquish whatever he had that Theo had tried to grab away from him. Often Beck would cry and pout after he had handed it over to Theo. That still happens occasionally, but more often now I see Beck push Theo away when Theo arrives to steal Beck's plaything away, or Beck uses his brute strength to win it. Theo, anticipating this new fighting spirit, has begun to respect Beck's space and things to some extent. I observed a detente tonight when Theo approached Beckett, grabbed Beck's book, and when Beck grabbed it back with some finality, Theo shrugged and found his own book to read right next to Beck. I think this is all good news for everybody. Theo learns he doesn't always win, and Beck learns he deserves to win sometimes, too.