sweet man

One of the best things about Julius is his boundless capacity for sweetness. If you have to go into a room alone, he'll follow you back, and fall asleep on the floor trying to peek through the crack under the door. If we're lecturing Sylvia about needing to wear some underwear or socks, Julius will silently go to his room and bring Sylvia a pair of underwear or socks. He wants to make people happy and to end conflict, and he really follows through -- he wants to hug Mr. Cuddles too tightly, and he wants to roll around all over your face even if he's not trying to go to sleep.

Last week we all had a terrible stomach virus. At one point I couldn't make it to the bathroom and I collapsed in the Red Room with my trash can. Julius ran toward me, to see what fun things I would do with the trash can (he got excited whenever Sylvia threw up and he'd stand next to her and pretend to vomit, too). But once I started making my terrible noises he stumbled backward, scared. I saw he was scared and said, "go find mommy!" trying not to sound like a sea monster. He pointed to the living room and started to walk away. Then a second later, he appeared back in my field of vision, pointed at me, and then just stood there with me until I was done. I saw care and sympathy (and still some of the fear) in his eyes. I've seen my kids display oddly grown-up behaviors and emotions before, but I think this was the first time I'd been deeply touched by a little baby's care and concern for his daddy.