The Foorce

As expected, James had the hardest time while I was in the hospital. Though he was in the perfectly competent hands of people who loved him and knew him (and his fondness for routine), he still struggled greatly with not having mom in the house. By the second day his preoccupation was so great that even the most basic of skills, like answering “can you get a glass of water?” became impossible for him to answer the first, second, or eighth time.

When James got home from school on Thursday I was back with baby in tow. He walked in with a smile and asked if that “was his new brother.” “Yes, would you like to hold him?” I asked. “Do you want to see my homework?” James asked. “Sure,” I replied. Once James was done with his homework (with no complaints and in record time) he came back into the living room to show me. “Would you like to hold the baby now?” I asked. “Nah, he’s too little for me,” James said. “What about holding one of his little hands?” “No, thanks. I’ll just look at one of them.” And he looked for a couple of minutes at his brother’s impossibly tiny fingers. “So…. can I play my ipod now?” James asked. “Sure,” I replied. And with that, James was up in his room, content with life.

My sister looked at me, surprised. “For how much he missed you and he’s already upstairs with his ipod?” I smiled. “He missed his routine more than his actual mom. All is back in order now so he is happily resuming his schedule of homework, ipod, dinner, etc – worry-free.”

And sure enough, a couple of days later James bounced downstairs and said, “So can I hold the baby now?”

James has spent approximately one gleeful minute, documented above, holding his new baby brother. Enjoy!