For the last few days, Brian has been even more adoring of his baby sister. He lays down and plays with her... he wants to be the first face she sees in the morning when he peeks over her crib... he wants to feed her and sing to her... it's beautiful to watch.
I like to remind Brian often that the way he feels about Hope - and the way he loves her - is just like the way Gavin loved him. Gavin ADORED Brian from the first day he met him. Brian always lights up when he hears this.
His face also lights up when he sees this photo. (Mine does, too) So, yesterday we decided to take on a little art project and re-create this photo with Brian and Hope.
Brian chose the colors (red is his favorite!) - but what he told me he wanted to paint at the bottom made me cry.
"The blue and green lines are the ocean and the yellow is the sand on top. And then there is a dolphin and a shark playing in the water," he explained to me. And then he went on... "I wanted to include Gavin in our project so I painted the ocean! He loved the ocean. And the beach."
I couldn't even respond with words. I just smiled.
He put me in charge of making Hope's onesie. I wasn't nearly as creative!
The paint dried and it was time to model the art! Brian loved his shirt - and couldn't wait to sit with Hope. He was disappointed when I told him he couldn't hold her - until I reminded him that she would be sitting in front of his ocean! "Oh - yeah - I forgot!" he laughed.
As unlucky as we obviously are for the death of Gavin... we feel unbelievably lucky that we have been blessed with Hope. And even more - we feel grateful that Brian has shown no signs of jealousy... or resentment... or any of the natural feelings we braced ourselves for.
This little boy has been asked to deal with so much - and has handled everything with such strength and a tender heart.
After I got a shot of the two of them together, Brian jumped off the chair so I could get some of just Hope. I had her attention (kind of) for a second...
...but then Brian started to sing. Then I was toast.
One day, when Hope is old enough to understand, I can't wait to show her all of these stories from the moment we told Brian I was pregnant. He has been excited and in love and protective and thoughtful from the very start. And, just like Gavin did with him - he has always looked at her with adoration.
And just like Brian was with Gavin... the feeling is obviously mutual.
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