Bonding

One of the (many) uncertainties with having a second child was: how will Townshend take to being a big brother?

I wasn't *too* worried, but I did talk to several friends with multiple kids and read a few articles online about helping kids with the transition that is a new baby. From them I gleaned some good ideas and, anyway, no matter how you sliced it the change was coming! But I opted for a laid-back approach; no forced interactions or strong-arming a staged photo of the new brothers. I figure, an organic beginning will (hopefully) generate a good foundation for their life-long relationship.

So, on their first meeting, I just observed. We'd talked with Townshend a ton leading up to the birth, so he knew this baby at the hospital was the one who'd previously been in my tummy, but beyond a quick, "Huh. Ok, that's a baby" he didn't seem all that impressed (the big, wall-mounted tv in the room was WAY more exciting).

First meeting: Look at all that distance between him and the baby :)

Initially, Townshend gave baby Moon a pretty wide berth. Occasionally, Townshend would come over and look at him, or ask about the various noises Moon was making (he's a very squeaky baby), but that's about it. After a while, Townshend would sometimes come sit by Moon, as he was laying on the bed, and tentatively touch Moon's hand (very often with a single finger) and announce, "I'm playing with him!" (Oh, the cuteness!)  Meanwhile, Moon is already watching Townshend with great interest.

It's only been recently that Townshend seems to have started relaxing more around his brother. The other day he announced that he wanted to "take care of [Moon]."  Then he sat on the rocker and pulled up the pillow onto his lap in preparation. He held the baby for a good while before running off to do something more interesting.

Awwww! All the feels

I'm greatly enjoying watching their burgeoning friendship. I think we're all coming around to the idea that having Moon in our family is pretty great!