Brotherly Love

If you've seen the pictures lately you have a pretty clear indication of what has been going on around here: Pure loving on this new little boy. But I have to say, most of this attention comes from Nathan. When I posted some pictures of Nathan and Benny the other day, some moms actually asked me, "Was this posed? I can never get my kids to do that." The answer is no. I actually had to run to get the camera to catch Nathan all lovey-dovey (and then tell him to back off, and share some of the air).

From the when Nathan started fully understanding that a baby was going to join our family, he was totally accepting. Seeing other families with infants helped, and being that he is a loving and curious fellow himself, I think he was truly as excited as we were that Benny would be joining us, and coming to stay. He would talk to Benny while he was still in my belly and tell him he was excited for him to come out and play. And now that he is here, he continues to talk to him (and answer for him) and make sure to include Benny in all his hugs and kisses. He even came up with "Benny" for a name. I asked him is he liked Benjamin and he shot back Benny. And so it stuck. When I say Ben he even corrects me. "No, it's Benny!" Ok, sorry!

The only time I felt there was a touch of jealousy was one night this past week when Nathan got up in the night to come to our room. He peeked over me to see Benny in bed between me and Leo and I saw his little face crumble. He pointed and said "I want to sleep with you too!" When his request was denied he said, "Just move Benny over!" He cried, Daddy returned him to his room, and then I cried. We were waiting for him to find out that there was often a warm body between us and it wasn't his. He recovered nicely and was happy and loving as can be the next morning. In fact, later I realized it wasn't that he was asking for Benny to not be there at all, he just didn't want to miss out on the party himself. If anything he just wanted to be close to him too.

Of all the memories made this past week, I think my favorite will always be the first time the two brothers met. When Gigi and Grandpa brought Nathan to the hospital for his first visit we had a wait a while for Ben to join us in the room after some check ups. They were able to go to the nursery and see him through the window. I'm told he waved and was so happy and proud to see his little brother. When he was wheeled into the room later on, he couldn't wait to get in there and see him. It was as if the kid had done all this before. He got up close and wanted to touch Benny's face and head and hands. He counted his fingers and toes and pointed out all the features on his face. (I hadn't done this - I assumed they were all there. Good thing someone was checking!) He finally got to hold him in his lap and he was as gentle as could be, careful to hold his head and sit him upright. Nathan kissed his head and has continued to do so ever since being home. He holds his hands and seems to look at his little brother with as much awe as we do. I'm thinking Nathan is an old soul. He seems to truly understand love and tenderness. He makes me so proud.

I hope we will continue to show love and teach Ben his gentle ways. I couldn't ask for a more caring little boy to show the other little boy the way.