Nov 24, 2012

Brothers.

We've officially moved West out of our room, nine weeks later. Nine! I never thought I'd last that long - especially since Q was in our room for less than a week before his constant squeaks & wiggles were enough. Our 600 square foot apartment in New York was easier to navigate in the middle of the night than our home in Texas, however, so we've kept him in our room until this week. I moved all of his things out of the dresser in our bedroom & into his nursery this morning, & was surprised that this all made me a bit sad. His first sign of independence! But also, it hit me (again) that I have two boys (!!), & they live upstairs. Two! 

I was organizing West's things while he kicked away on the rug by his crib when Q came running in. He ran straight to his brother, stared at him with a smile for a second, & then jabbed his finger directly into his eye. And then laughed! It was deliberate & calculated, & he knew immediately that he was going to be in trouble. 

Quinn!!!

But still - he asks for his little brother first thing when he wakes up & loves to rub his fuzzy head while saying Soft, soft. If he asks where West is & we tell him he's sleeping (as is often the case), he'll remind us to be quiet by saying Shh!! Shh!! (I have no idea where he learned this). He may attempt to hurt him several times a day, but I really like that these two will have each other growing up. My two oldest brothers definitely had moments of tumult in their relationship. I remember bloody noses & heads dunked in toilets on a few occasions, amongst other things. But I also remember (loosely) my oldest brother running up the street after school & threatening to beat up the punk neighbor because he'd given my other brother a hard time after getting off of the bus (his name was Marty - he was mean, he had red hair, & I'm fairly confident he's in prison). I remember thinking how cool it was that big brother had protected little brother. 

(This is why Quinn is already not invited to any more doctor's appointments with West. His brotherly protective instincts have already kicked in.)

Q was so proud to sit by his brother the other day. He sat there & gave me smiles (of various levels of sincerity) for a solid 2 minutes without trying to poke or pull or swat at West. A small victory, & a sign of happy times to come. 

(West was more or less a blob - a cute blob - but managed to stay generally upright, which is enough to be happy about at this stage.) 

They'll really love each other someday. I just know it. 

Brothers. It's the sweetest. 

 

6 comments:

Brooke said...

What darling boys, Kathryn! My first two are boys exactly two years apart, and I have to say that watching their love and friendship grow has been one of the most satisfying, joyful parts of motherhood. One of my most cherished scraps of paper is a card that Linc made for Tad on Valentines when he had first learned to write. It says " I luv u bro!". And they started out with lots of eye poking, too!

danielle said...

These pics are so perfect. Almost makes me want another one. (Almost).

danielle said...

These pics are so great. Almost makes me want another one. (Almost).

Missy said...

I only know same gender children, but I know there is something special in it. You gave Q a brother..that's a gift he will love forever. Better than anything else you could give him.

A time will come Kathryn when these two will run around the house super heros or ninjas and you will sit back and make every long night worth it. It's a good feeling.

Oslo på svenska said...

Im buying one of these to avoid the poking http://www.babyshop.no/content/mma/products/01/134/13405/gwi500x500/felix_hvit.jpg

erin said...

those are some of the best quinn smiles i've ever seen. that first picture is perfection.