Loved, Squared

The boys and their toys in Puerto Rico

Real talk: I never expected Aiden to embrace the fact that he was going to have a baby brother. I didn't expect him to hate the idea, but I really thought that he'd be too busy in his own 8-year-old-big-kid-world that he'd be too preoccupied to worry about a newborn.

I'm happy to admit that I was wrong.

Every single day Aiden amazes me with how attentive, loving, and caring he is with August. If August needs his pacifier to be washed, Aiden washes it. If August needs his dirty diaper to be thrown out, Aiden tosses it. If August needs his mouth cleaned because there's spit up or drool on it, Aiden cleans it. If August needs to be entertained, Aiden puts on a show.

Aiden will literally fall on the floor twice over (thrice over!) just to make August laugh. And the sound of August's belly laughs? The funniest thing ever.

Before giving birth to #BabyDelicious, I didn't think I had the capacity to love another little person as much as I love Aiden because, well, Aiden and I have a very special bond. (I've written about this before.) Quite frankly, Aiden and I have been through some things together.

We've grown together. We're growing together. He put in the work with me. He put in the grind with me. He went to class with me when I was in grad school and didn't have a sitter; he came to work with me and sat in my office reading, coloring, playing on my phone, napping... repeat.

But it was love at first sight with August. And it's only gotten stronger with every passing day.

Back, when it was just us two, Aiden would say, "I super love you" to me. And I'd respond, "Back atcha kiddo. Back atcha."

Now... seeing Aiden be so protective of his little brother... watching August get excited every time he sees Aiden after school... seeing Aiden and August love up on each other...

I tell them that it's double the love.

It's love, squared. In so many more ways than I could have ever imagined.