Too cute, I have to share
This is the second day in months that I’ve had both my kids home with me with nothing major on our agenda to do. Nathan and Justin are both on winter break from school and therapy, respectively. Both are relatively healthy enough to have some uninterrupted play with each other on the ground…with their cars. They had a full day together yesterday with some bickering about whose car is whose. Don’t let Justin’s sweet face fool you–he can be quite feisty. You’ll see him scrunch his face up, and grind his teeth like he’s determined to get what he wants to get from big brother, and nothing’s gonna stop him. He’ll keep rolling, combat crawling, and reaching with his good left arm toward the object he’d like to own, even as his brother tries to move the objects as far away as possible from him. There is a breaking point for Nathan, though, a time when he no longer feels it’s fair that he must defend his toys. This is when things start getting physical. Sometimes, Nathan will hold his hand out against Justin’s forehead so that he could come no closer. Other times, Nathan will use his whole body as a human road block so that Justin would not get past towards the toys. But, Justin does not allow this to deter him from his goal. He’s learned to crawl over and around his brother’s blockages–he’s learned to create detours, if you will. When all else fails, though, Justin will cry in hopes of me coming to the rescue. How I deal with it depends on the source of the problem. Did Nathan take away one of Justin’s toys? Or, is Justin just being a little tyrant? But, this is besides the point of this story.
So, they fight and bicker as little brothers do. But, today, I witnessed the sweetest thing I never expected my firstborn to do. He fed his little brother. They were sitting side by side in their double stroller en route to the local Pavilions for our weekly groceries. Nathan had packed himself a canister of Gerber’s Cheese Puffs. As he pulled one of those puffed crackers out, Justin started whining for some. While pushing the stroller, I asked Nathan if he could share one with Justin. Because Justin was bundled up in layers, he was a little stiff and could not move his left arm over to reach for the cracker. So, Nathan started feeding him.
“Look, Mommy,” Nathan says. “Justin is a bird!”
Of course, I stopped to look and found that Nathan was right. Justin was like a baby bird receiving a worm from his mother’s beak. So cute!
On the way home from the market, Justin started fussing for some milk. Realizing how successful his attempt was the first time, Nathan tried to hush Justin by popping another cracker into his mouth.
“Look, Mommy,” Nathan says. “Justin is a snowman!”
To this, I had a little chuckle. Nathan was right. The cracker was sticking out of Justin’s mouth like the carrot of a snowman’s nose. Again, so cute!
Moments like this remind me of how blessed I am to be allowed my time with my children. I am allowed to witness how they grow and interact and interpret the world.
Nathan is beginning to assume the role of big brother, now. He wants to be a “big boy”, and is showing us that he is capable of this responsiblity. I am so very proud of him.
December 30th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Awwwww, Justin is growing up! He wants to be a good big brother. It is so sweet that he was feeding his little brother, helping him out. Being a parent is so amazing, isn’t it? Every day I see something new and am just in awe of this little person I created.
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! Hugs to you all…xoxox