Sibling Rivalry?

One of the things we thought about a lot in preparing for Kyle's arrival was how Ben would handle it. We tried to prepare him as best we could without making him sick of hearing about the baby.

I guess we needn't have worried too much because Ben just seems truly in love with his younger brother. This morning as Mindy and I were getting dressed and ready for church, Kyle was laying in the middle of our bed. Ben came in with his stool and was leaning over the bed sharing his green car with Kyle and "playing" with him. He asked him questions, never expecting an answer and was very concerned that he couldn't get the car to stay on Kyle because it fell off every time Kyle squirmed.

Ben is also very concerned when Kyle gets fussy and has been heard to say "What is it, Kyle? What is it?" in tones very similar to the ones we use. Ben also likes to sing songs to Kyle in the car or when he's on the changing table to help him calm down. At first he sang the old stand-bys, The ABCs and Jesus Loves Me, but lately he has figured out the words to the lullaby that we sing to Kyle and sang to Benjamin when he was little and still sometimes do. It is so sweet to hear Ben's two and a half year-old voice chime in with us as we try to calm Kyle in the car on a long trip, or help him relax when we're changing his diaper. I can't wait to see how this relationship will blossom as time goes by. I'm sure it will not all be this smooth, but it's an awful wonderful way to start.