This is Just the Beginning…

This last nine months has been fairly uneventful in the relationship between Soren and Jonas. Soren seemed uninterested in his new brother. He'd give him a little pat on the back or a kiss just for mommy's sake every once in a while, but other than that, he just left him alone. Two weeks ago Jonas learned to crawl. He grins ear to ear as he crawls around the house. He's discovered our bathroom, the hallway, the kitchen ... but screamed in glee when he discovered Soren's room and the toybox of kidly treasures. He crawls as fast as he can when he hears the kids playing in another room. Unfortunately, they usually exit just about the time he's getting there. Lots of times he's nearly trampled by 3 and 2-year-old feet as they chase each other to another location. As soon as Jonas learned to crawl, Soren found out he didn't really like him anymore because he can touch his stuff. He has to share. The fighting has just begun. "Joji's got my bee," he tattles, then rips it out of the poor baby's hands. Yesterday he smacked Joji upside the head for touching his special bear. Today, he easily loosened Jonas' grip on the chair and sent him tumbling to the floor. Of course, all of this leaves the baby in huge tears. He wants so badly to play with his brother. As a mom, this kind of fighting rips me in two directions. Instinct tells me to protect Joji from head smackin but it also tells me that Soren is a perfectly normal two-year-old and I shouldn't reprimand him too hard. I want them to get along. I want them to be friends. And I feel like I should somehow lay down the ground rules right now. But what are they?