Two weekends ago (I'm way behind, I know) my brother Niji and his wife Asmi came to visit along with their two-year-old son (Saavan's cousin-brother), Sohum. I was very excited about the meeting because 1) Sohum is an active two-year old and totally kicks ass; and 2) I was anxious to see how Sohum would react to his new cousin: would he immediately love him? would he treat him as a doll? would he understand the relationship and acknowledge his existence (this one I found especially intriguing because sometimes I'm not sure I understand my relationship with Saavan)? I also figured that no matter what happened, seeing the cousins interact for the first time would be awesome, given they'll know each other (and hopefully be close friends) for the rest of their lives. If not close friends, at least standoffish family members.
The meeting was as awesome as I'd hoped it might be. Sohum was a little taken aback when he first saw Saavan. I'm guessing that was in large part due to the fact that Saavan was probably the first person Sohum had ever met who was significantly smaller than himself. (It's probably the same reaction I'd have if I ever more someone significantly more handsome than myself - it just seems so improbable). Sohum also started the weekend exhibiting a little bit of jealousy at the amount of attention his parents immediately directed towards Saavan (because Saavan is so tiny, upon first meeting him, people invariably want to hold him). But as the weekend progressed, Sohum quickly began to warm up to his little cousin. He quickly learned all of Saavan's mannerisms, so that whenever Saavan cried, Sohum would explain to us that "baby tired" or "baby hungry." And while Sohum gradually became more and more intrigued by Saavan, he was always wary of getting too close to him, or being too rough with him. I think he was worried that he could break the baby (I worry about that sometimes too). As a result, Sohum's contact with Saavan (we were constantly asking him to give Saavan a hug) was limited to quickly touching him with a single finger, like someone touching a pot on a stove to see if it's hot. It was indescribably cute (and you can see it in some of the pictures below). When Sohum wanted to help feed Saavan, same thing - his help was limited to touching the bottle from which Saavan fed.
On their second day together, Sohum had clearly taken to Saavan, and couldn't hide his excitement to be around the baby. The cuteness level reached a level that nearly made my head explode the evening of day two. We continuously asked Sohum if he wanted to give Saavan a kiss. He did, though his kisses consisted of kissing noises he would make 6 inches from Saavan's face. It was great. But the best moment? Sohum is attached to a blue blanket that he carries with him whereever he goes (Neha calls him "Linus"). He needs it to relax, and he refuses to give it to anyone. At one point, all of us were watching Saavan as he engaged in a "tummy time" session (we put Saavan on his tummy for at least a few minutes each day (he hates doing it for too long) to help him develop his motor skills and neck muscles). While we were watching, Sohum, totally unprovoked, gently placed his blanket on Saavan's back. It was incredible, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to cry (I mean, I didn't really want to cry, but it was one of those situations where it would be understandable if I did).
Based on that moment, I have no need to worry about them being only standoffish cousins. I can't wait until we can bring them together again.
Enjoy some pictures from that weekend, including Sohum and Saavan's visit to the zoo!
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