Going Steady

Although there has been a good bit of turmoil in our lives in the past month (a long string of hard tantrums, Ethan went up to two days a week of child care, Rugby season went into full swing,  and Jody went back to school for two weeks) the past week has seen Ethan present a soft and loving sweetness that I have not seen in a long time.

 - At night this week, during bedtime, he and I have been playing a game in which he pretends to be scared and then comes and cuddles with me on "my" pillow.  We often do it three or four times and then on the last time he stays tightly cuddled as I sing him to sleep.  For the past two months or so, he has not wanted singing at night and I thought it would be gone for good... I am happy to have it back, even if it is only for a while.

- Today, as we were all driving to play at the CCBA (our local community center with a pool), Ethan had been being a little rough with Sam (perhaps because he hadn't seen him much in the past two days as he was away at day care) and Jody and I were both surprised when we looked back to see Ethan gently holding Sam's hand.  It was like a little bridge of love between their two car seats.  They held hands almost all of the way to the CCBA.  It was so sweet I just had to write about it.

Addendum (AKA The Sweetness Continues):

- Ethan frequently leaps up from the dinner table when some exciting idea strikes him.  The other day when he ran off mid-taco, I said (with just a touch of frustration) "Where are you going!?!" Ethan replied, "To give Sammy a hug." And then did exactly that.

-Sam has started sitting at the kitchen table in his high chair, systematically dropping every toy we give him.  Jeremy refers to this set-up as the toy conveyer belt.  Whenever Ethan sees that we're getting Sam set to buckle up, he runs and grabs a stash of toys "to make Sam happy".  He carefully selects only the most interesting toys and puts them in a huge pile right by his own dinner plate.  When toys start hitting the floor, Ethan passes over one from his collection with a sweet little voice saying, "Look Sam! A new toy!"  Occasionally he does this without looking up from his meal, passing along a new toy like just another worker at the toy conveyer belt.

-Ethan loves to have a little time with Sam when they've been apart (sleeping, pre-school, playing with friends).  Sometimes it's all over-zealous face-tickling/scratching the baby's cheeks off.  Sometimes the physical affection actually correlates with Ethan's kind intentions.  For example: the other day Sam was fussing when Ethan came in from playing and Ethan got right up in his face and said "It's okay, buddy.  It's me.  Do you recognize your brother, Sam?"  This was rewarded with a huge gummy smile from the babe.