Best Big Brother

Life with Cody is a bit of a roller coaster. He's just … intense. Wonderful, but man, he's high-maintenance. In all the normal ways kids are, and then some more. A lot more. We butt heads a lot, because the problem is … he is me. Except the other problem, as Jonathan will tell you, is that … he's Jonathan. So the poor kid really had no chance. He was probably never going to come out laid back, relaxed, type B, or—I always want to punch parents who describe their babies this way—"chill."

But that's okay, because he's just so great. Right now he's into a couple of typical curious-Cody things: building Rube Goldberg contraptions (a la Ok Go) and learning to play chess (he's kind of disappointed that we can't really play wizard's chess). And, showing me his muscles. : )

But tonight, immediately after being tremendously frustrated with him, I fell in love with him all over again. Mainly because I was tremendously frustrated with Emma, who had a great day and then just decided to freak out at bedtime. In a huff, I just stuck her in bed and shut the door while she screamed and I sighed and stalked around putting away a metric ton of laundry. She was howling that she had lost her bunnies and then I heard Cody open her door and say, "I will help you find your bunnies!" He did, and then she was doing that sort of half-sob, half-gasping routine, and he said, "Do you need Cody to read to you?" "Yes!" she sobbed!" "Tan you read me Little Twact?" "Of course I can read you Little Quack," he replied. And he did. And when he was done, he turned out the light, turned on her music, and tucked her in.

I've never loved him more. (Her? Her, I've loved more. : )