Big Brother

I want to make sure and document what a wonderful brother Nicholas has been to his little sisters.  I don't want to forget all of the wonderful moments of compassion and love that I see between him and the girls.



The other day I was getting ready to nurse both screaming, "starving" girls, but I had to run to the bathroom before I nestled in.  I left the girls, crying and protesting, in the middle of my bed.  Nicholas was playing in the front room.  As I was washing my hands the piercing screams of hungry babies died down.  Silence filled the house...aaah, such peace.  I flew to the bedroom (because we all know that silence, while golden, can also be a very bad thing), but I needn't have worried.  Nicholas had come to the rescue.  I found him perched on the edge of the bed, holding Lauren's hand softly saying, "No crying, Lauren.  No crying, Kate.  It's okay... stop crying, it's okay."  Kate and Lauren were mesmerized by his little face and soft voice.



Lest we think all is roses and sunshine, let me say that about ten minutes later he got put in time out for falling on Lauren after I had already gotten mad at him for falling on Kate (he was jumping on the bed while I was nursing...not okay).

Nicholas "helping" Kate move her head.

But all in all, he is truly a helper in our house.  He helped me cut up the cucumbers and carrots for lunch today.  Every day I find that he is more and more obedient and respectful.  I am so thankful for such a wonderful son who will be a protector of my daughters.  Whenever strangers try to talk to the babies, he is very quick to say, "No!  You no say hi to them!"  :)  We're still working on politeness.

I think this is Lauren, but I'm not sure to be honest with you.

I think I might have written about this already, but I'm not sure, so I want to include it here just in case.  Nicholas is the only kid I've ever seen who runs TOWARD what he is afraid of.  I think he's a warrior in spirit.  When he is scared by something, he'll always look right at it and say, "NO!" before he comes running to my side.  One day right after we moved into this house (so just after his 2nd birthday), we had a telephone repairman in the basement looking into a problem with the phone wiring.  Our landline had been calling 911 and hanging up all night, apparently--there was a very unsettling late-night visit from the police officers wondering if everything was okay.  Anyway, Nicholas hadn't seen the man enter, so I don't think he knew that he was there.  The guy went outside to his car to get some more tools, and when he came back downstairs he passed by the room where Nicholas was playing.  Nicholas, upon seeing a strange man walk into his house, stood up and screamed, "NO! YOU GO! OUT! NO! NOT YOU! YOU GO!" and ran toward the man.  He was terrified!  He came to find me, in tears.  I was so surprised at how instinctive it was for him to fight instead of flee.  That's from his Dad, for sure :)

Nicholas and Kate in the bath.  I had to give Nicholas a bath in the morning while Lauren was sleeping (because he stuck his head inside my mixing bowl to lick the chocolate off the bottom, thereby getting chocolate all over his entire head).  I let Kate get in for a little bit.  He got a real kick out of it!

Spontaneous hug.

He always asks, very politely, to hold the girls. "Mom, may I pick them?"  He means pick them up, and he thinks it's synonymous with holding.  He knows just what to do.  He situates himself comfortably with his legs extended in front of him.  Then he places both hands, palms up, on top of his legs.  I've tried several times to get him to hold their heads with one arm, but he would rather have them rest upon his legs with his hands under their backs.  In the beginning I would hold the head for him, but now they're big enough to sort of sit up in his lap.  They have also discovered his hair (all hair, for that matter, much to my chagrin), and he laughs and laughs every time they grab it.

Nicholas "picking" Kate

I think my favorite part about Nicholas as an older brother is how gentle he is (when he's paying attention).  I've never had to worry when I leave the room and the three of them are together semi-unattended.  He has been curious, and in the beginning I would catch him with his finger in their eyes or up their noses, but my fingers were in those places a lot too so I know where he learned it! :)  It didn't take long, though, before he realized how to act around the babies.  He is quiet during nap time.  He never complains when we have to wait to do something so I can take care of the babies.  Whenever he hears them cry, he knows that I need to go help them which means I need to leave whatever we were doing together.  I keep waiting for him to have a fit about this or at least complain a little, but he never does.  What a peacemaker :)

What a guy.  I sure love my little big brother.

And no, my bed is never made.