Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Brothers

Matthew and Seth love dressing the same way.  If one wears jeans, the other wants to wear jeans; if one wears sweats and a green shirt, the other suddenly wants the same look.  When we were at Old Navy recently, trying to take advantage of a great sale, the boys found three shirts that they both loved, and they begged me to buy them all three...which I did, given that they both needed a few more shirts and given the incredible price I bought them for.  Here they are in look #1 - a Star Wars shirt.  I'll try to get pictures yet of them both wearing their Spiderman and Dinosaur shirts.

 

Another thing they love to do "samesies" is making their bed.  Every morning after breakfast, we head upstairs and, amongst other things, we all make our beds.  Note: I used the term "make beds" loosely - I don't actually care if the kids' beds look great...I basically want a blanket thrown overtop of the bed and a pillow generally in the location that their head will eventually be.  Depending on the day, the boys may take a minimalist approach, or they will (about three or four days out of seven) kick Lizzie out of their room, ask me to stay out, and then spend a solid 20-25 minutes making creating their beds.  They have designed caves and huts out of their blankets and pillows (which they then feel obliged to climb into and test); made their beds upside down; positioned their blankets sideways so that the length of the blanket lay across the floor and stretched towards the centre of their room; put every toy owned by them onto the bed cover as a way of dressing it up.  You name it, they've done it to their beds.  The only thing that's a certainty about how they make their beds is that the two beds possess a similar theme/look.  I wish I had taken more pictures of their bedroom creations, but here are just a few shots that I did have the forethought to bring my camera upstairs for.
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Seth's bed one day last week.

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I love this picture of Seth 'butting in' on the picture of Matthew's bed...that's such a typical look for him when he's into a little mischief!  Note the detail on Matthew's bed...sigh...it takes quite a long time in the evenings to unpack such a bed in preparation for its intended use.

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Another version of Matthew's bed!

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Matthew's bed this morning...he built garages for some of his hot wheels cars using hockey cards that his friend, Mr. Sheldon, gave him.

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So, of course, Seth did the same thing, though in little clusters all over his bed.

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Another version of the bed, from yesterday.

They're great together, my boys...well, not always, but often enough to qualify as great.  Despite still having terrible days together, wow is it ever great to see them becoming closer!  They have so much in common, as it turns out, and when we're out together, I see them watching each other, and watching out for each other.  It's sweet.

Matthew's protectiveness over Seth recently raised itself up; when I spoke a bit harshly to Seth about something that I'd asked him repeatedly not to do, Matthew ran up to me with instant tears in his eyes, and yelled at me:  "don't do that to my brother - that's my brother you're talking to!"  Ok.  Their gym and Sunday school teachers tell me almost every week how Matthew makes sure that Seth is understanding everything, and how a simple touch of Matthew's hand on Seth's shoulder is a way of Matthew telling Seth that it's time to change course or sit down.  They get extremely mad at each other on a very regular basis, but they instantly become united again in their annoyance with their sister over the same issues, and one will feel free to complain to me if she is doing something horrible to his brother.  And when there are occasional words that Seth speaks that I just can't understand, or if he's mad about something that I just can't figure out, it's usually Matthew who will quietly pipe up in the background as he confirms with Seth what he's trying to communicate...and Matthew's been right every time!  Finally, when the boys are apart (which doesn't happen all that often), they spend most of their time missing the other one and being sad, and wondering what the other is doing.

Today, when the boys had 'made up' after a bunch of squabbling, I said to Matthew that I know he waited so long for his brother and that I knew he loved him.  Matthew's response:  "Mom, we may fight, but of course I love Seth.  Totally.  Whole heart.  Always."  Before I could respond, Seth piped up:  "Mom, course I love Matthew.  Totally.  Always.  Brothers."

It was beautiful.  It's moments like these that make me realize that, for being home almost five months, the boys are doing fabulously.  They are brothers.  Simple.






7 comments:

  1. ok, actually crying here AND i have shivers. God is good. Love love love this post. Love you. :)

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  2. What a beautiful post. So glad the boys are getting along so much better overall. That is a special bond between them, I can tell from your pictures. Awesome!

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  3. So glad for you all Ruth. What a beautiful post.

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  4. Yup, you caught me at a 'feeling crappy and sorry for myself' about my wait, and now I am crying over how great your boys are doing. It is so awesome to see so much progress in their relationship.

    OK, doing the ugly cry...gotta go

    Claire

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  5. Okay, this makes me feel a little teary!

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  6. Wow! So much bonding going on at your house!

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  7. This one made me sniffle too - those are some pretty awesome boys you've got there.

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