John, the tender heart

Despite not paying much attention to his younger brother other than taking toys from him and occasionally poking him in the face, John really does love Grant.

Exhibit A: Notice in the picture above that he is trying to hold Grant's hand, and he asked me if he could hold Grant and take his picture. Nevermind that Grant always has this "deer in headlights" look in every picture. They have matching pajamas (thanks Uncle Jared and Aunt Mari!), which up until recently John wouldn't really wear unless coerced. But once Grant got big enough to wear his, John wanted to be matching. Now, he always wants Grant to wear his blue stripe pajamas if John wears his. Unfortunately, acid reflux prevents Grant from wearing any pajamas more than once before they need to be washed.

Exhibit B and C: Lamby and Bearsy. Next to John's blanket, these are the most important things in John's life. He tucks them in, hugs them, shares things with them, tells them stories. I ask John to do those things with Grant... but he would rather tell a story to Bearsy and Lamby. One step at a time, I guess.

Exhibit D: Buzz Lightyear and Woody (not pictured). Today while I was changing Grant's diaper, I overheard John in the other room with his Buzz and Woody saying, "I love you, too." I peeked out and he had Buzz and Woody hugging.

And just as a proud mama side note: today we were playing over at John's friend Emmi's house. She is one of his besties, but she is also a little rough. Several episodes of hitting occurred today, which resulted in tears from John (partially due to not having a nap today). I think they exchanged hits at one point. After that little episode, I hear John say to Emmi, "I'm sorry Emmi for hitting you. I'm sorry."

He may be 2. He may be a little demon sometimes, but inside that 2 year old defiant, button pushing demon is a little tender heart.