I love me some cousins, just not no new babies

Some more photos of Edith with her cousins Santiago and Maggie last weekend. They got along from the get-go and seemed to have a great time together. Edith is so lucky to have cousins close-in-age with whom to grow up. I look forward to watching them play each Thanksgiving and Christmas as they get older: going to look for cats in the barn, playing tag in the yard, and of course, staking out the course for golf games with the miniature golf club set that is already a big hit. Who knows what they'll come up with on their own? There's still a Luke Duke cowboy hat in the hall closet...



On the other hand, Edith seems to be exhibiting some serious new baby jealousy. For five or six days in a row, she has bitten the much younger baby who recently joined her daycare class. Until P. came, Edith was the youngest child in the class and loved to be held and petted by all the teachers, especially the head teacher. Now I suspect she is jealous of the cuddling and attention the younger child is getting.

The teachers are very understanding, assuring me that biting is a normal behavior at this age, when young toddlers are still exploring the world orally, are too little to understand that biting hurts, and don't have words to express their emotions. All the same, they've decided that Edith and P. can't be allowed to play freely on the floor at the same time. Today when we dropped Edith off, P. was the only child already there. They had her in a chair at the table. Edith made a beeline for her, pointed, tried to reach her, and to my surprise, clearly said her name. The teachers deftly stepped in, encouraged Edith to say good morning to P., and then handed Edith a frozen teether. She seemed to like having something to bite and showed it to all of us in turn. I hope that helps. I don't envy the teachers negotiating this situation.

I feel really bad that I can't be there to help work on this behavior with her. I feel crummy for the baby and her parents, who must be dismayed by the daily Incident Reports they're getting. I also feel sad that at just thirteen months Edith is having to deal with jealousy of a "new baby," which wouldn't happen if she were at home. One of the breastfeeding guides I've read explains that a child who is inclined to wean is also emotionally ready for someone else to replace her at the breast (a convenient biological arangement, since weaning usually makes it possible for a woman to become pregnant again if it hasn't been possible before). Edith is nowhere close to weaning--she still wants to nurse hourly, if not more. It's hard, this growing up.

Taking advice from all experts out there...