The Budding Big Brother

The photo at the right was not staged. I did not dupe Kole into doing everything he's doing just for a photo op. The other day while just he and I were in the house, he fetched Karissa's pink bear. I doubt Karissa knows that this bears is hers, but Kole is now proficient in identifying bears on TV or in books, and when he's in her room to get his diaper changed or something he'll point and yell for the bear. So, he's frequently seen with the pink bear.

Back to the other day, I'm in the kitchen making him dinner or something, and behind my back I hear him saying "ah hun-GEE ... ah hun-GEE". We now now that "ah" is his versatile noun that can me "I", "you" or anyone else in the room. The other word I recognized as his for hungry. I then informed him that I was going as fast as I can but corn dogs need time. I then heard a dining room chair scoot, and thought he might have sat up himself, which must mean he's really hungry. Finally I looked over and see what's in the photo. He had placed the bear in a chair, grabbed a little sandwich baggie of Ruffles from the counter top, leftover from his lunch at mothers-day-out school that day, and was attempting to feed the bear chips.

I had to stop and take about 10 seconds to soak it all in. He had carefully put the bear in its chair at the table, presumed it was hungry, and was now feeding it. Or, pretending to feed it, as those modules of his brain are becoming increasingly active. Maybe in his own mind the bear was taking a bite, but after holding the chip to its mouth for a few seconds Kole would ultimately devour the chip. It was win-win for stuffed bear and human boy alike. It was a neat moment, and I snapped this picture without him knowing, proud that I captured the innocence and spontaneity of the moment.

In other pictures on this blog we've shown Mr. Froggie, the stuffed frog who wears jeans and a shirt. Kole will frequently pull the back of the frog's pants back saying "poo-poo ... poo-poo ... ah diaper". It's pretty cute, checking to see if Mr. Froggie has crapped his britches and in need of a change.

We are seeing more and more signs from Kole that he is prepared to be a helpful brother. He's sure as heck a helpful son. He knows what a phone is, so if you sit down to feed Karissa and the phone rings, he's a quick and reliable retrieving service. He actually calls the TV remote control is a phone - they are the same size and both have numbers all over them. That's okay, if we need the remote just ask for the phone. If he brings the real phone just point to the remote and say "no - the other phone". He gets it eventually. He knows what a bib is and the drawer where they're kept, and is great for fetching one if you've already sat down with Karissa.

Such a great helper. Such a growing boy getting wiser by the day.