I absolutely adored having Kael, Dax and Ace so close together. They were my own writhing, wiggling litter of darling pups, who pulled at my shirt, and hung on my legs, and rolled around the floor together with me -- it was magical. Aside from having waited so long to get them all here, having them as a little group of tiny beings was just better than I could have ever hoped for. They all liked the same books. They all ate the same things. They all played at nearly the same level and were learning many of the same things. It was dreamy.
So when I found out we were expecting Boone, I was nervous. For him. For me. He would be younger than the rest of the crew. He would be the tail end of the pack. It seemed he would come into the game far removed from the rest of the team. It sounds melodramatic, but worrying about it kept me up at night.
Turns out -- per usual -- God knows what he is doing. And though I think I have things figured out... I don't. Because, the thing about having a little caboose is, it softens EVERYONE. And with little men running wild around the house all day, we could all use a dose of softening.
They can be rolling around punching each other in the face, but when Boone toddles into the room, they immediately stop and become his audience of adoring brothers who cheer him on and play patty cake and hand him an endless array of toys to play with. They extend their little hands and coo at him. They let him grip their tiny fingers as they patiently help him walk. They ask him to say things and teach him how old he is and help him put on his little moccasins. They are (mostly) quiet during his naps and they will hold him and feed him a bottle and put puffs in his little pincher grasp. And truly, is there anything more selfless than actually feeding the hungry?
I have a neighbor who was watching my boys play in the yard as we were visiting and she said, "I've noticed you have BOY boys. Like, I have boys, but they aren't super rough and tumble boys. Yours are ALL boy." I thought about it and I love that. I love that they run straight for a pile of dirt. I love that they catch bugs and gut fish and don't ever notice their dirty hands until they come running in and we can smell the grime on them before we even see it and we stop them in their tracks and send them straight to the bathroom to wash up. I love that there are times they don't even stop to snack because they're too involved in playing some wildly imaginative game of war or ball.
I also love watching them be "big" to their little brother. I love listening to them spat over who gets to hold him when I snap a picture of them all. I love they way they guffaw at his new tricks and the way they laugh hysterically if he farts or burps. I love watching his vibrancy, his love, his spirit and all things about his blissful babyhood that has brought such a sense of peace to our home. He has stretched our perspective in ways that only his presence could.
He is one of the pack, for sure. Probably king of the hill at the moment, because whatever he does trumps whatever was happening mere moments before. He knows they are his tribe. And they have happily accepted him as their own. He has brought us all closer together, because that little love has a magic that is all his own. Our enchanted caboose that exudes happiness and brings up the tail end with ease and grace.
We love you, Boone. And we're so glad you're an integral part of our little crazy train.
There isn't a day that goes by that we aren't thrilled with the surprise that you are.
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