My boys are separated by 8 years, yet, if things keep going as they are, I can already tell they will get along famously for the rest of their lives. That is due to how loving my oldest son is.
As an 11 year old boy, he's pretty unusual. Instead of shunning his little brother, he pleaded with me to move his 3 year old brother from the nursery so that they could be roommates.
When I ask the oldest boy to change his little brother's diaper, I often have to track down the two who are somewhere else in the house. I just follow the laughter. Since they wrestle so much, I'll find that they have rolled from room to room until they are far away from the diaper and wipes that were set aside.
And when I ask him to put the baby down for nap, he surprises me by reading books to him. He takes the time to cuddle up with his little brother in order to read the three books that the baby must hear over and over.
With all the attention poured down on him, you can imagine that my 3 year old adores his older brother. All around the house you can hear him yelling for his big brother in his cute, little voice. He handles a controller while watching the master play Xbox. He sits beside the skilled architect as he watches buildings rise in Minecraft. He wants to do whatever he sees his big brother doing.
What a relief for me. For years I speculated on how much better life would be for my 11 year old if his stillborn brother had lived. Being two years apart, I kept imagining the lost son to be the panacea to my older son's boredom.
While I'll never know if my oldest son really lost a best friend in his dead brother, I have seen him endure as the only boy amid three girls and their stuff. After 8 years without a brother, he is making up for lost time.
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