This is My RJ

Our family of three had a very smooth transition into a family of four. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t thank God for our good fortune. I am beyond grateful that Rosie, who was more than a month shy of her second birthday when we brought RJ home from the hospital, truly enjoys being a big sister. Her natural assumption of the role has been a marvel to me for over eight months now. I have the true pleasure of being able to enjoy her interactions with RJ.

She has always been a helper to me. She is quick to try and comfort RJ whenever he is upset, share toys and teach him the ways of her world. Last week I overheard her trying to teach him colors. If he is fussing in his crib, she will run in there, talk to him and hold his hand until we pick him up. At some point “Baby RJ” became “my RJ” – and I think it is the most adorable thing in the world.

We visited the mall today and then did dinner by the fountain at the Avenue in White Marsh. In our travels we met many strangers who stopped to talk to Rosie. She was looking particularly cute and girly today – curly ribbons that coordinated with her outfit accented her pigtails – so she attracted a fair amount of stranger attention. Most comments were “what a pretty little girl” or “I love your pigtails.” The first two or three times it happened, Rosie just said “Thank you.” After that her response became “thank you – this is my RJ.” After a lengthy conversation with a woman in Hallmark I realized that she was deliberately bringing attention to her brother any time she had attention for herself.

I thought about it on the ride home from the mall – Rosie is just very concerned that RJ be included in everything. Whenever an activity is presented to her she responds with “and RJ too?”

Rich tells everyone that having two kids is WAY more than twice the work. Well, it is. I sleep much less…I worry much more. I have less time to do things like clean my bathrooms and write thank you cards. However, our days are filled with WAY more than twice the joy as well. There will be a time for clean houses and thank you cards and sleep…right now Rich and I have front row seats for the most amazing, touching and heartwarming show – the Rosie & RJ show. And we wouldn’t miss it for the world.