Brothers

Having Ryan in our home has been quite an adjustment for all of us, but more so especially for Sean.  Afterall, he lost a brother last year, when our last foster child left.  When Ryan first came, Sean was excited, but the newness wore off and he started to back off and I think he might have been a little scared to invest his feelings again.  Slowly we have seen the bond between them grow.  I have watched Sean go from not wanting to hold Ryan to asking if he could hold him a few months ago.  Sean is also very aware of Ryan and will often willingly share his toys or if Ryan is upset, Sean will offer a stuffed animal for him to hold.  One time Sean touched my heart when he told me we needed to get a dog.  I asked him why - you don't like dogs.  He said - Ryan does, so we should get one for him.  How sweet that he will think of things Ryan likes and want to give them to him.

Now that doesn't mean that they always get along.  What really has grown between them has been a love/hate relationship, which I think is normal between all siblings.  One minute they are playing great together and the next minute one or both of them are crying or screaming.  What surprised me was that it started so quickly with Ryan being so young!  At first, I thought it was mostly Sean not wanting to share his toys or space, but I quickly learned that both boys play into the struggles.  Ryan seems to only want what Sean is playing with and is very quick to over-run a situation.  I can see how already he has such an aggressive personality - he sees what he wants and he is going to go for it - no matter what!  I do love to watch them play - there are many times they play well next to each other, but sadly I spend a lot of my day being referee and sometimes I think, will this ever end? 

I am so grateful that Sean gets to be a big brother, even if it means he has to share his toys or books or our attention!  What a blessing it has been to have both of these special and individual boys in our home.  I love both of my sons very much!

 

This is the first time I could get Sean to sit on the couch with Ryan for a pic.  Unfortunately he wouldn't "hold" him and poor Ryan was having a rash at the time.

 Below: Rough housing with each other.  They were actually getting along and no one got hurt!
 

  

 

 

 

These two pics (above and below) were a couple months after the "couch" picture above.  This time Sean asked if he could hold Ryan and it went pretty well, even if they wouldn't hold still! 

 They are both trying to get me and the camera in these three pics below:

 

These pics below are one of the few times they will play together happily - hiding in the desk compartment.  They will be sad when the desk is sold.