Andrew and Daniel

Andrew turned 3 months yesterday and it is always a little bittersweet. Every time I celebrate his month anniversary I know that 5 days later I will be experiencing another. It's not fair to Andrew or myself. I so want to celebrate all of Andrew's milestones unencumbered by Daniel's accident. To help ease this, for me, I have decided to write about Daniel and Andrew's relationship. For as short as it was, there was so much love from Daniel to his brother.

From the very beginning, Daniel was building a relationship with his brother. Daniel would talk to my belly and try and look into my belly button to catch a glimpse of baby brother. The day we brought him home, Daniel was quick to voice he wanted to hold him. He was so gentle with Andrew. Daniel was a little helper and liked to grab the diapers and wipes for me. A few times he even helped hold the bottle and fed Andrew mostly by himself. Where he got the patience to do that, who knows? :) He would lay with Andrew during tummy time and encourage Andrew on. One of the first things he would do once he was up was jump on our bed to see Andrew and say hi. He loved giving him kisses and hugging him and enjoyed the walks we all shared together-even if he did have to give up his seat in the stroller. Even now, he is protecting him and sharing his love. We decided to put all the money Daniel had accumulated in his piggy bank as part of the education fund being set up for his brothers.

One of the hardest first year pages I made in Andrew's first year book was the page dedicated to all 3 brothers. It's a part of Andrew's history I wish wasn't but it is and I want to acknowledge it head on. Andrew will always know that Daniel loved all of his brothers and was the absolute best biggest brother Andrew could have.