Six months after James's birth, Grace realized that seeing Phoebe and James establish their sibling bond gave her insights into both children's personalities and the type of family culture they were creating together. She was watching Phoebe's patient attempts to teach James how to play with blocks, while James exhibited his developing social abilities by reacting animatedly to his sister's attention.
"James, blocks go like this," Phoebe explained, carefully building three blocks before allowing James to touch the structure. "See? James tries,"
James, who had recently mastered sitting up on his own, went for the blocks with the focussed determination that seemed to characterize his approach to new problems, grabbing one before glancing at Phoebe for confirmation.
"Good James!" Phoebe ex
