Luckily there is one person who Ari loves even more than his mommy. Kai is, by far, Ari's favorite person. All he has to do is breathe and Ari laughs. When Kai is in the room Ari follows him with his eyes wherever he goes. He coos and laughs and squeals in response to the things that Kai does.
Kai is quite flattered by Ari's affection. And, if you know Kai, you know that nothing works better on that kid than flattery (except for bribes involving garbage trucks). Not surprisingly, Kai is quite fond of Ari, too. He carries on daily, one-sided conversations with him about all of his favorite topics--namely garbage trucks, whales, and bounce houses. He makes sure that Ari has toys to play with and he has become quite the little choking hazard police, alerting me regarding any small objects within a 10 foot radius of his baby brother.
Being an older brother isn't always easy. Kai has had to work really hard at being quiet and staying out of Ari's room when I'm trying to get Ari down for a nap. This is something that I've been working with Kai on because there is no way Ari would ever be able to sleep with his enchanting brother around. After a few bribes and a few time outs, Kai has learned to be patient when Ari is going to sleep. But without fail, I will see the outline of Kai's little feet in the crack underneath Ari's door when I am rocking Ari to sleep. And when I come out into the hall I will find Kai swaying back and forth, rocking his imaginary Ari and quietly singing him lullabies.
Ari is lucky to have such a good big brother and I am lucky to have such a good helper. I only hope that these two brothers will continue to be such good friends to each other as they get older.
