Posts Tagged ‘special needs brothers’
A New Year
I just spent the last 20 minutes scrolling through ten years of photos to find any photo from a New Years Eve that I could share with you. I couldn’t find one. Apparently we don’t really do NYE in this house. I did manage to find the cutest kids ever. Whew. They need to stop growing! Anyhow, this is the first photo I ever got of my boys together. Willingly sitting by each other. Cooper is 4 and Sawyer is 2. It’s my absolute favorite. Their relationship has been a…
Read MoreWe Waited Ten Years For This
Beautiful things are happening between these two brothers. Things that we weren’t sure would happen. Things we accepted may never happen. Because we just didn’t know. They have never played a game together, at least not in the traditional sense. Sawyer tried for years to engage his older brother but never had any luck. It was heartbreaking for him. But lately, Cooper is loving to wrestle, tickle, run, and chase his brothers. It came out of nowhere. It’s a gift. He laughs so deep from his belly and his face…
Read MoreMy Brother Jack
I was surprised when I found out my brother Jack has autism. To me he wasn’t weird or odd. That was just him. He always asks a lot of questions, like what color shampoo people used. He asked that one so much that I thought it was something people usually asked each other in a conversation. He gets mad sometimes. He gets mad when there is too much noise. He puts his hands over his ears and screams. He worries a lot. After I found out about his autism, I…
Read MoreToday, Both my Boys Went to School
Today was a really big day in our little world. Huge really. This morning Cooper went to his brother’s school to have his school photo taken by Lifetouch. See, these two boys should be in school together. They should be in first and third grade and riding the bus to and from school together. But they are not. It is what it is I guess. This was a big deal for both of them. We’ve been talking about it for over a week. A new shirt! A fancy haircut! A…
Read MoreThe Little Brother with the Old Soul
Today is Sawyer’s seventh birthday. Which is a really big deal. But honestly, what he said to me this afternoon makes it even more special. We had arrived at Cooper’s school to pick him up for the day. It was Jamie, Sawyer, the baby and I. Cooper came running out. All excited. His therapist said we have something to say to Sawyer. Cooper was jumping up and down and clumsily pushed a button on his speech device. ‘Happy Birthday!’ the automated voice said. Then he giggled and clapped. ‘Thanks buddy’…
Read MoreWhat is a Brother?
What is a brother? Funny question right? Do brothers have to play together? Or talk? Or spend time together? Do they have to do those things? For the first three years of Sawyer’s life, he followed his older brother around. First by crawling. Then walking. Finally running. See, Cooper never stopped moving. Not ever. Sawyer thought it was a game. Cooper would run from room to room, tearing apart beds, putting garbage cans and shampoo bottles in the bathtub, emptying bookshelves and so on. From room to room he’d go.…
Read MoreTwo Boys and a Sister on the Way!
My son Nolan was born May 2007. He was the easiest baby who came with a painless, smooth delivery. He made parenthood a breeze. There was no hesitation in giving him a sibling right away. Mylan was born December 2008, and Nolan wanted nothing to do with him. He would hide his head or leave the room entirely if Mylan cried. I could never get that beautiful proud picture of big brother holding newborn brother. I was horrified that the loves of my life were not like the online photos…
Read MoreSeeing their Future
These two. Brothers. Cooper was barely two when Sawyer was born. I had so many ideas of what their relationship would be like. So close in age. I thought they’d be best friends. I thought they’d play nonstop. Like so many parts of life…what I imagined didn’t happen. Their relationship has always been unique. Lots of ups and downs. Lots of confusion for Sawyer. Cooper is mostly oblivious to him. They rarely interact. They seem to lead separate lives but do acknowledge that the other one seems to live here…
Read MoreTo my Son, A Brother Who Simply Loves
To my son, I knew at a very young age I wanted to be a mother. I had to wait a long time for you to come but when you did I was so happy. You were so beautiful and I was finally a mother! I loved our perfect little family and loved watching you grow and become the person you are today. When I was ready to give you a little brother or a little sister I could picture our family doing many things and couldn’t wait for you…
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