The Sibling Effect

It is an amazing experience to watch your children grown into unique individuals. They were created by the same two parents, but have entirely different personalities and develop in such different ways.

One of the most wonderful things to watch is the impact that an older sibling has on the development of a second child. I realize how an older sibling impacts a second child varies in a million different ways, but in our house I believe the impact is an incredibly positive one. It is impossible to know what can and can not be attributed to the presence of an older sibling, but here are some of the observations I have made and believe are a result of having a fabulous older sibling.

Language Development

Charlotte has a fabulous vocabulary for a 16 -month old toddler. I don't want be "one of those moms", but when we were at her 15-month well-check up, our physician was extremely impressed with the number of words she could produce. I really and truly did not exaggerate on the form - what is the point in that? Perhaps Charlotte would have developed her impressive vocabulary even without a sibling, but I am more inclined to think that Lilah is a big reason Charlotte can produce so many words. We are constantly talking to one another in our house and Charlotte is almost always a part of those conversations. We also read a ton of books. There was a time when I was feeling guilty because I wasn't reading to Charlotte as much as I did to Lilah when she was young simply because time did not afford it. Seeing how much she LOVES books and reading has reassured me that the culture of reading and the importance of developing a love for it has been passed on to her despite less one-on-one reading time.

Pretend Play

I don't really remember when Lilah started engaging in pretend play, but I am fairly sure it was not at the young age that Charlotte has started to. I chuckled every time I see my girls crawling around on the floor together pretending to be dogs or horses. They even go so far as to put their snacks on the floor so they can eat them like a dog or horse would. It is really interesting to me that Charlotte engages in the pretend play side-by-side with Lilah and will even pretend when Lilah isn't around.

Social Development

It seems like a no-brainer that having a sibling would affect social development (in one way or another). Perhaps Charlotte is just a particularly social child, but she is so much more outgoing, affectionate towards other people and just generally social than Lilah was or is. I know there are a slew of factors that affect social development, but I am sure having an older sibling is one of them.