It's starting....

Pretty much from the moment I knew I was pregnant with Luke, Max knew. In fact, he told his dad (by way of a big brother onesie). And the moment we found out that we were having another boy, we have talked to Max about what it means to have a brother.

Throughout my pregnancy, we read a lot about babies, and talked about Luke. I would try and have Max feel his kicks, and we would ask his opinion about names. It was funny - he never seemed upset or happy. Just indifferent, maybe.

About three weeks before our due date, as baby talk increased, Max's attitude also seemed to shift. He would tell people that mommy was getting bigger and bigger, and that "Baby Uke" was going to come out soon. He would also tell Dan and I that he was "sooo excited". We were happy that he was viewing this life change as a positive thing, but also believed that he wouldn't really know how he felt about having a baby brother until Luke got here.

Now, I fully expected Max, in all his passionate splendor, to really come unglued when Luke was born. But really, he didn't. He also didn't jump for joy. In almost anti-Max fashion, it was like not much had happened at all. Like his world was pretty much unchanged and he just didn't really even notice the creature in the corner. He would look affectionately at him when asked, or when others expected him to interact with Luke he would. But there wasn't a whole ton of interest there.

But it's over the last couple of weeks, all that seems to be shifting. Suddenly, it's like the light has turned on and Max is fully aware and interested in everything Luke does. Better yet, Max seems to really be enjoying Luke. As Luke has started smiling and "talking" more, Max has really started to see him as a little person. He wants to be near him all the time -
he holds his hand, talks to him (and for him in adorable one-sided conversations), is on the bed during diaper changes, and sings to him while I am in the shower. Yesterday he even asked to hold him!

This new interest isn't without concern - we had to talk about the fact that babies heads are fragile (yes Max, like eggs), so we don't jump near them or on them. And picking Luke up isn't the best idea. But when we went to the doctor's this afternoon, Max was there to sit on the table with Luke, telling him in the sweetest little voice that it was all going to be ok.

I can't even say how much all of this excites me. No, I don't think that this means that from now on they will always be best friends. I'm sure I have years of warfare ahead of me. But in this moment of time, I'm getting a glimpse of the relationship that I want them to have. Max is loving Luke. What more can I ask for?

And tonight after dinner, Max looked at Luke, turned to me, and said, "I'm so excited Luke's here."