Siblings

Rowan is having a sleepover at Camille's house tonight.  She was so excited to go!


Putting the boys to bed tonight I noticed a pile of clothes and some books on Rowan's bed. I figured that Rowan left those there when she packed up for her overnight.  I put the clothes back in her closet and the books back on the bookshelf.

Oscar brought me a pink heart sticky note that he wrote to Rowan and was working so hard on.  It said something about holding Autumn and she is the best sister and he loves her, "love Oscar".

Wally and I are in the bathroom brushing teeth...rather he is brushing his naked belly with his tooth brush, with his pj's around his ankles because they have a hole in the toe and are NOT OKAY TO WEAR TO BED!!!!!!!

Oscar says to me from his room, "Mom.  Did you see the chapter books and clothes I put on..." and I could hear a twinge in his voice. 

I walked into his room and said "What's up Oscar?"  He was headed to the closet, with a strange smile on his face, "Nothing" - in a high pitched, strangled voice -still smiling.  "Are you OK Oscar?", I said. 

His face crumbles and he starts to cry.  Hard crying.   I just got down and hugged him as long as he needed - and it was a LONG hug.  In my ear he chokes out, "I just miss Rowan so much.  I want her to play with me."

He picked out the clothes and books that he knows she likes and set them on her bed to feel like she was there.  

We talked about how cool it is that he misses her so much and how sometimes it takes someone we love being gone to realize how much they mean to us.  I held him and told him over and over how sweet he was and how she'll be home in the morning.  "I want to make her bed for her too."

On to my bed for story time, he's still fighting back tears as he says, "Mom, my note said that she can hold Autumn first." 

I felt such relief that Wally was there to keep Oscar company in their bedroom tonight.   Autumn and Wally will be this for each other too.  Can't find the words to explain how happy I am to be a mother of four.  They fight, they cry, they scream about holes in pajamas, they tattle on each other 20-30 times per day...but at the end of the day, they love each other with a fierceness that humbles me. 

Rowan's birthday morning.  The outfit that Oscar set out on her bed tonight.