And so it goes...

Owen's interest in his baby sister has been fairly limited -- specifically to when someone asks how he likes being a big brother or when a present is involved. This hasn't been an altogether bad thing as it's limited the number of times Nora's life has been in immediate peril to one (it involved our leaving her in the high chair while fixing breakfast and Owen almost tipping said chair over trying to get a better view). We feel particularly fortunate in that Owen's latest past-time involves acting out various scenes from "The Sound of Music." We're less concerned with his spinning on a pretend mountain top and singing "So Long, Farewell" than searching for the children in the abbey and saying he's going to kill them (somehow the message our son took from this classic is, "Pretending to be a Nazis is fun!" Fortunately, he's now moved on to telling us that Rolf made bad choices and that we don't like Nazis).

But lately, Owen's been a bit more protective of Nora -- making sure his daycare friends don't touch her, letting us know if she's asleep in her carseat while we're driving somewhere, giving the odd kiss. On Saturday he even helped give her a bath before the neighborhood block party so she would look extra pretty while meeting our neighbors.

The brotherly love was short lived, however. After a well-meaning but horribly misguided neighbor gave all the small children on the street nerf guns, Owen and his friend Jalen decided to use Nora for target practice (thankfully they both have very poor aim). I found myself uttering a phrase I never thought I'd have to say to my son, "Please don't shoot the baby."

The gun has mysteriously vanished (thanks to Daddy), but given the Supreme Court's overturning of the DC handgun ban, we're now practicing constant vigilance in our household.