Brothers

Blanden is quite taken with his little brother. Each morning when he sees Ellis he likes to give him a hug and a kiss, accompanied by the words hug and kiss as he's doling them out. He likes to help Ed hold the bottle when he is feeding Ellis, and he likes to get out the baby's diaper at changing time (he especially likes to search through the stack to find a diaper with Elmo on it). He likes holding Ellis while sitting on the couch (with a lot of help from Mommy or Daddy).

One day while the three of us were alone in the car, Ellis started crying. I asked Blanden if he wanted to reach over and hold the baby's hand. He did just that, and held onto it the whole way home, saying "It's okay, Baby. All better." And now he does it on his own, without being prompted. Looking in the rearview mirror and seeing the two of them holding hands (all I can see of Ellis is his tiny hand sticking out of the carseat and enveloped in Blanden's much larger but still small hand) just melts my heart.

A few nights ago, while I was reading stories to Blanden before bedtime, we heard Ellis crying downstairs. Blanden kept saying, "Baby crying." I told him it was alright, that Daddy was taking care of him. He looked concerned and said, "No. Mama." He insisted the baby needed "more milk" from Mommy, and that the baby should come read stories with us. Bedtime is about the only time of the day Blanden doesn't have to share me with his little brother, yet he was insisting on doing just that.