Sharing

For the past few months, we've been really trying to say "the bedroom" instead of "your bedroom." Everett has been sleeping on his own in the bedroom for nearly two years.

Until now, that is.

In early May, Imogen moved in! So far, so reasonable. Some nights they bicker and scream and run around like crazy beasties, and others they snuggle and chatter, falling asleep next to each other.

Every night, Evie asks if he can snuggle Immy in her bed, and every night, she gleefully says "no." He wants the new shiny thing, and she loves being in control. It's marvelous to witness how much they are both learning about each other.

Rachelle Haun Photography - May 18, 2019

Story time has been hit or miss. They rile each other up so much that sometimes sitting still and calming down is just not in the cards. It's frustrating for us because we miss out on the calm time reading stories with them.

Most nights they do OK though, and we each pick a story. Everett rotates his favorites, often picking Disney stories (he likes A Bug's Life right now), Meet the Cars, and various books about trucks or construction equipment. Imogen on the other hand, loves monkeys. Five Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed and Wild Baby ("Monkeys") are the far and away most popular for her, with Jabberwocky following behind.

She now demands to read Five Little Monkeys to us, turning the pages and saying some of the words. It is breathtakingly cute and she does a fairly good job for a nineteen month-old still learning her letters. It isn't just her cuteness that makes us catch our breath with that book, it was a gift for Obie. Elizabeth got it from a friend at her baby shower in Michigan and there is a sweet inscription.

We can still sort which books were bought for Obie and which came later, but not many have inscriptions. Not many have hopes written out for a boy who would never realize them.

With or without inscriptions, those books are Obie's. They are shared with his siblings. While some moments it really hurts, on the whole it is a good thing to have items meant for Oberon used by his brother and sister. He never got to meet them, let alone share a room (or even see the house we live in now). Still, we told him he would have siblings, that we would love them fiercely for him.

And like every big sibling there ever was, he has to share.

Rachelle Haun Photography - May 18, 2019