Since before Liam was born, Benjamin has loved him.  Of course, while I was pregnant with Liam, Benjamin didn’t really know what it would be like to have a little brother, but he was happy about the idea from the beginning.  He was so excited to meet Liam when he was born . . . and then, Liam’s birth didn’t go at all as planned and Benjamin’s experience of meeting him wasn’t able to be anything like what we prepared him for.

Benjamin’s first view of Liam was through the window of the NICU, and even though I think that was a little weird and confusing for him, it didn’t dampen his enthusiasm.  We were nervous to see how B would react when we first brought Liam home, but there was no need — Benjamin sat on the floor, looked at Liam, and said, “So cute!”

For as long as we’ve had both boys in the house, we’ve had tons of cuddles, kisses, hugs and “I love yous” between them.  Benjamin loves to help Liam when he needs it, and (usually) wants Liam to join in on whatever he’s doing.  (Of course, we also have plenty of pushing, snatching away of toys (B to Liam) and hitting (Liam to B) — it can be hard to have a brother sometimes, especially when super-mean Mommy tries to make you share or take turns.)

But mostly, there’s just a lot of love between the two of them, and it is wonderful to watch them together.  Lately, there have been lots and lots of cuddles in our house.  Mostly because Liam is starting to catch up to Benjamin in terms of initiating the affection (and he does it in a classically Liam style — mostly, it looks like a tackle).

Just this week, some good friends of ours had their second baby, a girl, and we were talking about what it’s like to be a big brother, and how exciting it must be for their oldest son to have a new baby sister.  Out of curiosity, I asked the boys if they’d like to have a little sister one day (don’t get excited — this is something we haven’t even decided ourselves, I was just wondering what their take on it would be).  They both said no, which surprised me a little.  But then Benjamin added, “But another little brother would be ok.”

That, I think, is the best compliment Liam could get from his big brother.