At this point in our lives the boys don’t have any official cousins. I guess ‘official’ depends on who you are asking – but what I mean is any direct cousins with which they can play. Sorry Michelle, but Alium is not quite big enough!
Fortunately they have second cousins!! Especially ones like Liza and Landon. Liza and Landon are the children of my cousin Sarah and her hubby Tyler.
We have had a picture of Liza on our fridge for most of the boys’ lives. When Will was learning how to talk he would talk to Liza on our fridge…and up until a week ago he still thought Liza was a cute 1 year-old in her pink dress. Well she is still very much cute – but no longer one and no longer in a pink dress…at least not this day!
Sarah and her kids were in town for the Thanksgiving holiday. We took advantage of them being here to do some much needed bonding. Sarah and I have always (well, I’ll speak for myself) been fond of each other, but never close. We are both at new, and similar chapters, in our lives and have found a new kinship. I cannot even say how excited I was to see her and chatting and let the kids play.
It was a hoot! The kids played like they always do – with one eye on the toys they were playing with and the other eye on the other kids. It took Will and Liza a little bit of time to warm up – pretty normal – but I suspect that given even more time they’d have been best friends. Sarah, in her ever-creative-mommy role, got them playing a game outside. What fun to see our children play together. Not to mention to see Sarah as a mom.
Liza is a vivacious little girl! She wanted me to notice her Princess Aurora hair (I had to ask who that was!), she put on a little modeling show, and cracked me up with her conversation! I could have a whole afternoon with Miss Liza and no doubt be smiling the whole time.
Landon was so refreshing! He is a happy-go-lucky little man. And he really is a little man. He looks so much like his Dad that it took me back a couple of times. He toddled around the house. It wasn’t until 1/2 way through the visit that Sarah mentioned he did not feel good – you could have fooled me! Wish that everyone could have such a good-natured one.
Sarah and I got to sit (mostly) and chat, and finally catch up on some of the things we’ve missed out on, the life lessons we are both learning, and the myriad of parenting experiences we have had in just four years!
After lunch we headed outside to let the kids have a popsicle. Liza decided to show will ‘Bert’. Bert is the pool cleaner, who to Liza (and now Will), is actually alive and lives on the bottom of the pool. She and Will had a great time watching it swim around the pool. She told me everything that he eats and even when he sleeps.
Spending time with their family just made me so grateful that as adults we understand that we can change dynamics. Certainly Sarah and I, and our kids, could live life without a relationship with one another. I am grateful that she and I made the time to change that.
