For those who may not know, Tony is my sister, Melissa's, son. He turned 8 in October. Let me just tell you, having an older child around is not the worst thing in the world. Sure, there's the whole battle for control and the occasional issue with sharing or not playing well together, but overall, if you're smart about it, having an older kid around can be great, especially one who is visiting and on his best behavior. Tony is such a cute kid! He has always loved his younger cousins, especially the babies. He was really cute when Dylan was born. He was 3 1/2 and said such sweet things like "him cute" or "him need me". He loves toddlers so it is really fun to watch him interact with Preston. Preston LOVES older kids (well, he loves everyone) and just follows Tony around waiting for Tony to help him when he can't do something like the rest of the big kids. When we had lunch, I gave each kid a different color plate so I could keep track of who had eaten what (they're those plastic plates with the dividers in them). Tony was sweet about letting Dylan have the blue one since it's his favorite color. While we were eating, he asked me what we were doing next. We had been playing in the snow, played with toys, cleaned up and now we were having lunch. I told him after lunch I would clean up the kitchen, then we'd have stories and then Preston and Anthony would take a nap and he and Dylan could either play a computer game or have a movie. He looked at me with a grin and said, "Oh, kind of like preschool." It was quite the compliment to me that he saw my ordinary daily routine as a type of preschool - so cute! Then the idea hit me. I had Tony read to Anthony and Dylan while I got the kitchen cleaned up and put Preston down for a nap. That way Tony got his reading done and I found an extra 30 minutes in my day. Brilliant! I could use more older kids to occupy my busy bunch once in awhile. Anyway, it was really fun to have Tony over for a little visit and he seemed to appreciate my routine and willingness to play with all of the kids. I'm sure glad Dylan has such a great cousin!
This picture is too cute! Tony pulled the love sac out in the middle of the room and I looked over to find all of the kids sitting together captivated by some cartoon. I love how Tony is holding Preston on his lap.
The best story time ever!
2 comments:
What a great idea to have Tony read to the kids! The pictures are way cute of that. Poor little Preston falling in the snow! That crunchy snow isn't the best sometimes.
For a get together, what about Friday the 16th? I'm coming up that day because Stacie and Seve's double baby shower is the next day. So I could stop by your house on my way to my mom's if that works.
Yes, the 16th should be great. Let me know what time you're coming up so I make sure I'm home and showered : ) (I'll probably hit the gym that morning)
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