Cousin Blake

When Sophia was born she inherited six wonderful cousins. 

Blake is the second oldest at 12, and we get to see him and his brother Aaron fairly often since they live in nearby Vermont.

I remember meeting Blake when he was just a few days old before his Uncle and I were even dating.  Now he's making astute observations about my child, such as "The way she runs into furniture, makes me think of how I am when I'm wearing roller skates". 

A few examples of how great Blake is with Sophia from just one weekend together include:

• Letting her play with his iPad (possibly his most treasured item).
• Not getting frustrated with her when she (fill in the blank with the many things a toddler does that would annoy a typical 12 year old).
• Telling his younger brother to "Watch out for Sophia" or to let her have a turn.
• Opening the car door for me so I could help Sophia get in to her car seat.
• Reading her a book while the football game he was watching was still playing on the tv.
• Including her while we were at a nature museum by saying things like, "Sophia do you see a bee that is 3-4 inches long?" (after reading a sign at the Bee exhibit that this is the size of the Queen.)
• Trying to put $7 in Sophia's pocket, that was leftover from what his Grandmother had given him to buy Christmas presents for family at a church sale, while saying, "Grammie would want her to have it."
• And picking out a stuffed animal and giving it to her at the Church sale while saying, "Hopefully this way she won't be lonely in the backseat after I can't ride back there with her and maybe it will help her not to cry before her nap" (Sophia loved it and thankfully it was only 25 cents and reasonably small).