The Boys Meet Harvey

My nephew, Harvey, was born on September 2nd.  I was the only one (from our family) that was able to fly out and meet him right away.  When I returned from visiting him, the boys had lots of questions about their newest cousin.  At the time, I promised them that they would get to meet him soon. 

Harvey fell asleep during his tummy time.

A month passed and then it was finally time for Aunt Natalie, Harvey and Uncle Mack to come visit.  The boys were BEYOND excited about heading to O'hare to pick up Aunt Natalie & Harvey.  Sadly, Uncle Mack had to work and wasn't able to come until later in the week.

On the way to the airport, I reminded the boys that Harvey was tiny--way tinier and more fragile than Caleb.  I knew they had forgotten what a newborn was like because I can barely remember it now that our "baby" is a full-fledged toddler and into EVERYthing.

After we picked them up, the boys studied Harvey from their seats in the back of the van.  I asked them if they thought Harvey was smaller than they expected.  James told me "yes, he's way smaller and way cuter than I was expecting."  Ha ha! 

I asked Andrew what he thought of Harvey and he responded by saying "I don't know, I haven't seen his legs yet."  Apparently, he needed to see his legs to make a judgement call.  Natalie & I were cracking up.

A little while later, James saw Harvey without the newborn hat on that he had been wearing and right away James exclaimed that "Harvey is even cuter without a hat on."  Again, Natalie and I had a good laugh.  Who would have thought a 6 year old had such strong opinions about baby clothing?

Later that day, Grandma Mary showed up and showed Harvey off to the boys.  After seeing his legs (out of his sleeper), Andrew also declared Harvey to be "cute."

Let us see his legs!!!

 Aaron was quick to remind me (in case I had forgotten) that we "probably shouldn't let Caleb wrestle with Harvey yet."  I'm not sure why he thought I would condone Caleb wrestling with anyone since he's only 15 months old, but I did affirm him that he was right.  No wrestling for Harvey...at least not yet. Clearly the boys are looking forward to the day that Harvey can join in their roughhousing. 

Kisses from Aaron

Aaron saw me snuggling with Harvey in the recliner and wanted in on it.

 And for the record, not only did we not allow Caleb to wrestle with Harvey, we didn't really allow him to be too close to Harvey without constant supervision.  Caleb was intrigued with Harvey.  He tried to share his paci with Harvey, but was even more interested in testing Harvey's pacifier if we left it unattended for even two seconds.

Caleb checking out Harvey's legs and paci.

 At any rate, Harvey was a big hit with our boys.  James was beyond miffed that we couldn't tell him exactly when we'd be seeing Harvey again.  One month?  Two months?  Before Harvey is 2 years old? On her way out the door, Natalie reassured James that he would see Harvey before too long, but right now, we don't have an exact plan.

Saying goodbye to Harvey.

 Aaron was the most devastated though when I took the Shane family back to the airport to go home.  According to Jon (who was with him while I made the airport run), Aaron cried a good twenty minutes straight about them leaving before he finally fell asleep out of exhaustion.  I'm not surprised.  All our boys love having our far-away family visit, but Aaron is by far the most attached to Aunt Natalie.  It might have something to do with the fact that she lived with us the summer I was pregnant with him and was here for the first month after he was born. 

Love at first sight: Aaron meets Aunt Natalie just hours after being born.

Beach vacation with Aunt Nat in Aug 2010.  Aaron wouldn't let anyone but Natalie carry him.

Who knows?  All I know is that Aaron LOVES to see Aunt Natalie.  And when Aunt Natalie is around, the rest of us are chopped liver.


However, I do think Uncle Mack is providing some real competition to becoming Aaron's favorite. Mack easily won Aaron over this summer playing silly games with him in the pool on our family vacation. 

Mack & Aaron, June 2012

Later in the summer, he took Aaron out for some mini-golfing (without the big brothers along) which Aaron thoroughly enjoyed.  And, Uncle Mack was initiated into parenthood a little early (before Harvey's arrival) by helping Aaron with a trip to the potty.  So, he quickly climbed the ranks not only for being fun but for being willing to help with the less than glamorous potty scene.  For now, we'll call it a tie between Aunt Natalie and Uncle Mack.

And who knows, Harvey may surpass them both in the coming years when he is able to be a full-fledged playmate and cousin.

The Shane Family