Trajan as a Brother

I think I’m right.  It’s the habit of writing and thinking that needs to be developed.  If I have that down, I can fiddle with figuring out how to incorporate pictures or select colors or things like that, but there is no reason to improve the aesthetics is there aren’t going to be any thoughts.  So, I am going to attempt to just build a habit of writing.

Today’s thought: the awesomeness of Trajan as a big brother.  I’ve been firmly convinced for a long time that Trajan is a pretty cool person, but it’s been wonderful watching him in the role of a big brother.

The day they were born (December 23), Trajan was in Dallas to go to a couple of Christmas parties there before coming back to Austin.  He chose to head back immediately to meet his brother and made it to Austin about three hours after Chiron and AUrelia were delivered.  He must have scrubbed in a minimum of seven times that day because he kept going back to the NICU to ask more questions. Bless the patient nurses who explained grounding and the different color wires on Chiron's monitor leads.  The picture above is from December 24.  I was amazed how well Trajan followed the nurses instructions about how to touch Chiron without overstimulating him.

Trajan had come to the hospital daily during the six weeks I was there before they were born, and at first he seemed to want to do this while Chiron was there.  However, there isn't really much to do in the NICU and being closed from 6:30-7:30 really puts a damper in a preschoolers schedule, so we convinced him to just visit on the weekends.  But he did ask about his brother every day.  He also wanted to help with preparing and labeling Chiron's milk.  If Trajan was awake when either Paul or I was leaving for a hospital run, he always asked us if we needed to take milk.

Now that Chiron is home, the first question every morning seems to be related to where Chiron is.  And Trajan's just been sweet, gentle and helpful.  Yes, he still is a boisterous, energetic three-year-old, but he is a caring and careful brother.  "I washed my hands, can I touch him?" 

One evening, Chiron was in a bouncy chair in the living room while Paul was cooking dinner and I was cleaning up.  I went to go check the mail and Gretchen, our younger Irish Terrier, apparently went over and was licking Chiron's face which disturbed him.  Trajan moved the pack and play and a number of his toys to create a buffer around Chiron so that Gretchen couldn't get in!  Smart and helpful!

One last aspect of his brotherhood is Aurelia.  No one else mentions her.  To Trajan, she is as much his sister as Chiron is his brother.  When people ask him about Chiron, he always mentions Aurelia.  I have trouble using her name instead of referring to her as the girl or something similar, so Trajan using her name helps me. 

Love you big boy.