Thursday, September 10, 2009

brothers



from the moment i found out that we were having a second boy, i was thrilled. the image that immediately came to my mind and fixed itself there was of tristan holding his younger brother's hand as they walk together down a tree lined path. as embarrassing as this is to admit, i have to add that they're both wearing denim overalls, barefoot, carrying fishing poles and little samuel has a frog peeking out of his pocket. a tad idyllic, i know, but a girl is allowed to have at least one cheesy vision of the future, right? oh, and the other part of this image (which is more like a photograph to me by now) that stands out is that the older boy is a blondie while the younger boy is dark haired.

the interaction between my boys over the past three months has already surpassed my expectations. the day we arrived home from the hospital with samuel all bundled up and wrinkly looking, tristan asked to "hold it" immediately. he also had quite the obsession with holding samuel's hand for awhile, which he still does every now and then. now that samuel is getting too big to be held, tristan shares his toys with him by placing a truck or a ball on samuel's tummy or near his head. he talks to him the way he hears us talking to him, i suppose...with a lot of expression and quite often with a question mark at the end of his phrases.

this afternoon i came into the living room to find that samuel, who had been laying on his back on the floor at one end of the room, was now all the way at the other end (which honestly isn't terribly far considering, if you remember, that our living room is the size of many people's bathrooms). tristan was hovering over his little brother, chatting away to him and samuel didn't seem at all upset about the change of scenery. upon examination, i discovered no rug burn on the back of his head (i can only assume that tristan pulled him along by his legs). we did have a talk right then about what we should and should not do to the baby, which ended in a very solemn sounding "sorry, baby sam" and a kiss on his little head.

all of this interaction so far has been interesting and mildly amusing. but this evening, something changed and it absolutely thrilled my heart to witness it. just after dinner and before samuel's bedtime, when there is finally a coolish breeze outside, we often like to go in the backyard and i'll sit with the baby while josh and tristan sword fight with plastic baseball bats (tristan claims he is peter pan while daddy is captain hook...sometimes he'll let me be tinkerbell) or play catch or kick the soccer ball, or just run around like crazy. this evening josh was setting the sprinkler up (to keep our very large and most delicious tomato production from halting due to the heat) and tristan was doing his usual run-around-like-crazy routine and samuel was on my lap facing outwards, following tristan's movements with his head, back and forth across the yard. suddenly, the baby started to stiffen his legs, pushing down with them. i held him up to a standing position on my lap, which he loves and was enormously surprised to hear the cutest little gurgly giggle come out of his mouth! i peered around to look at his face and he wore an expression of utter delight, his eyes wide and excited, his mouth open in a drooly grim, his body leaning forward as if he just couldn't wait to join his big brother out on the grass. tristan noticed it as well and acted all the more silly, flailing his arms and laughing loudly. every time tristan would pass close by, samuel's little giggles would start up again. it was one of those moments where i was torn, deciding if i should tell josh to run and get the camera, or just sit there, soaking it in and allowing the image before my eyes to be captured in my mind, like my very own private photograph.

of course, i chose to just sit there enjoying the privilege of witnessing my sons' love for one another grow just a little bit more. and knowing that this is only the beginning, that there will be many more moments like this in the future, made me smile with anticipation. yes, being a parent is the toughest job in the world, but its also the most fun i've ever had!

6 comments:

M.R. Tumnus said...

Ahhh, warmed my heart big time to read this first thing in the morning. Enjoy these special new moments - there are many more to come, like you say. XO

kelly ens said...

yes, those are the BEST moments. simply the best. :)

Unknown said...

Baby laughs are the best thing ever. What a great way for it to happen.

Kathy said...

How delightful!! Motherhood is a grand job.

Bonnie said...

I love watching Kelsey and Leah play together. They are best friends! It makes me wish I had a sister.

L&D said...

This is such a sweet post. How wonderful that you have two boys so close in age.....forever friends. I look forward to seeing them grow up together.