Cousin visit

Since the day that we found out that my brother-in-law and sister-in-law were expecting their first child, my boys have been absolutely thrilled to finally have a cousin. They had heard of these elusive family members but with two parents who are the oldest children, who got married first, and who had the first children, they had yet to actually have one of their own.

We hated to be the bearers of bad news...specifically that their new cousin would start out as a tiny baby and that it would be a few years before he could start to run around and really play with them. Jacob seemed to grasp this idea fairly well...but it did modify his excitement a little. He was still thrilled to have a cousin. It's just, as he told me yesterday, "I'm not really into playing with really little kids."

Zachary on the other hand is incredible with younger children. This trait may have something to do with the fact that many of our friends have children 2 1/2 and younger and he is around them more than his big brother is. However, it's not just that. I think he enjoys being the big kid for once and that overall he is a really compassionate individual. For example, while driving on a relatively long trip with my friend Maggie and her two kids, he willingly gave up his balloon when I asked so that Travis, who is 11 months, "wouldn't be sad anymore."

On Saturday, September 5 we were finally able to get to Maryland to visit with our new family member. Benjamin Arthur Marsh was born on July 28 and was six weeks old. Jacob's main focus was on getting to play with Uncle Jon Jon's Playstation 2. Zachary, on the other hand, wanted to see his cousin. After weeks of, "He's so cute." when I showed him pictures on the computer, here he was in person. Zack made faces at him to make him smile and talked to him. It was incredible to watch my baby with his baby cousin!

Again, I forgot my camera. Luckily, Mary Katherine had hers and we were able to get some great cousin photos! After trying to get Jacob to hold Ben (since he's bigger and more predictable) and striking out, we asked Zack. He jumped at the chance! What a kid!

Zack and Ben (with a little help from Mommy's arm!)

We switched Ben to the other side and Zack was able to hold him on his own. (I'm right next to him, just out of the camera's range. However, I never needed to step in!)

The newest generation of Marsh boys!