So Happy Together

My children are growing, as children have a habit of doing..! And as they’re growing up, I see them growing closer together. These are photos taken in the past week..

They play together now. We’ve been fortunate that Boo welcomed and adored Little Man from the first day she met him, as I know that this isn’t always the case in families. She’s helped me to look after him when he was a baby – grabbing me muslins, wipes, advising me that he was crying! Now that’s he’s 13 months old, he’s capable of engaging with her much more, he walks and so he chooses to walk to his sister. I watch them play games of Peepo, which is always accompanied by high pitched screams and giggles, look through their books together, play with their toys, and partake in Little Man’s current favourite game ‘Where’s the Dog?’ (they take it in turns to hide a Happyland dog and then the other one has to find it, not our actual dog – not sure he’d co-operate fully!).

Little Man follows Boo around, and in turn, she tells him what to do. He pays her no attention, but she does try. I heard her telling him the other day ‘No, you can’t play with that until you put your other toys away..’ Nice Try, sweetheart, but I just don’t think that’s going to wash with him quite yet. Soon, we can hope…;-)

I know that there will be stormy days to come, as there often are in sibling relationships. I know that he’ll soon go through a ‘mine’ stage and who knows how Boo will cope with that? I know that in less than a year’s time, Boo will be at school, and her little brother’s not likely to be as fascinating as her new classmates. I know that they’ll grow and make other friends and push each other aside on play-dates. I know that as their personalities develop and are shaped by their different friends and experiences, they’ll argue, they’ll clash and they will fall out at times. I know all of this, because I have a little brother, too.

Which means that I also know that they have many years of making wonderful memories yet to come. I know that they will spend hours upon hours playing together, lounging about together, chatting with each other, exploring the world with each other. I know that they’ll always have each other’s back. I know that however much they may argue in the future, it’ll fade into insignificance when the chips are down. I know that the gift I’ve given them, of each other, is priceless. I know that no matter how many loves, friends, changes come into their lives, nothing can take away the special relationship that they’ll always have. A deep bond, rooted firmly in a sense of shared love, family and childhood.

So I watch them now. I watch them grow together. And I treasure every moment.

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