I've Been Waiting...

I think that when Chris and I brought Kailey home for the first time, I was seriously expecting there to be this instant bond between her and Colin.  I was waiting for Colin to gush all over his sister and show me how they were going to be best friends.  In fact, quite the opposite happened.  Instead of that instant brother/sister bond that I was hoping for, Colin could really care less that she was there.  He never seemed jealous (well, anything out of the ordinary) or had any over the top attention-getting scenes and he seemed to act as though she wasn't even there.  

Months later, I did a blog post about it (I'm not even sure where to begin to look to link it to this post) and was curious when I was going to see a change.  

I started to become more concerned when instead of playing nicely together, Colin started ambushing Kailey in a playful way to get her to "wrestle" with him.   

I think it took almost a year to start noticing some of the subtle changes.  This isn't to say that Colin was never nice to her, I just didn't see them playing together for longer periods of time and still expected this grand relationship between the two of them.  

However lately, they ARE playing together and I'll often sneak up on them talking together in their jibberish.  Nothing makes me happier (and often brings tears to my eyes) than to see or hear the two of them laughing together because they are playing so nicely.  

Colin knows she is there now and I see life evolving with them.  They are becoming friends (maybe not great ones all of the time), but their love and friendship is changing.  

  

If Kailey is crying or falls down/gets hurt, I have seen Colin go up to Kailey, pat her on the back, and ask her if she's ok.  I've seen him hold hands with her and give her kisses.  

I've watched Kailey follow her big brother around and try to do everything that he is doing.

I have watched my two children learn things so differently from one another and at different paces.  However, my expectations for the two of them will be the same and I can only hope that the love that Chris and I give to the both of them will guide them into their futures and to help establish a strong relationship with each other.  

I'm not sure what Colin's future will bring, and it's something that crosses my mind frequently.  I often wonder if he will be able to live independently and what will happen years down the line.  

I know that this is something that I can not have all of the answers to, or worry about now...

But I'm pretty confident that these two will always have each other. Although it may have taken some time to get here, I see some pretty big things happening for these two...