Lily is showing clear signs of jealousy when Nate gets attention. Typically it happens when he is feeding. This is an activity that's clearly a bonding experience with Mom, and something she was able to participate in not so long ago.
Yesterday, while Nate was feeding, in the same room, Lily came to me and demanded that I get out of a chair and pick her up (sitting on my lap wasn't good enough). When I told her that I couldn't do it at that time, she walked over and hit her mom. This is a clear signal where her anger was really directed.
She has hit Cindy and I before, and it has always keyed on some inability to communicate anger at something. It started when she was under 18 months, and peaked not long after. As her language ability has exploded over the last 6 months - the 'violence' has decreased. Until recently, these outbursts had all but disappeared. It has come back recently and in almost every case it's centered on incidents that are related to jealousy.
This doesn't really worry me. It's a just a matter of some complex feelings combined with an inability to articulate them. Pretty soon her language skills will catch up with her feelings. There will still be jealousy, but if there are signs - we can talk to her about it.
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