Yesterday, I saw him crouching down to talk to Chris n stroking his arm gently. Chris was struggling to get up on all fours and baby elephant was encouraging him.
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Fear, confusion and jealousy slowly giving way to encouragement, understanding and hopefully empathy and love. Sure, the negatives still exist, but I think baby elephant is gradually beginning to realize that Chris isn't here to take mommy and daddy away. I think he's beginning to see that we operate as a family unit. And! A very big And here, that, he has a partner. He is no longer the only 'small person' around. He's beginning to use phrases like "next time, eat together (with Chris)", "play with Chris". He also offers Chris his food or snacks when he sees Chris eyeballing the food. We've had to explain that Chris can't eat just yet.
We recently had a staycation at the Crowne Plaza Changi hotel. Baby elephant would run up to talk to Chris whenever Chris was hollering for mommy. When Chris started his pig grunts at 6am, baby Elephant woke up but didn't complain. He merely played with his frog to soothe himself back to sleep.
When both boys were asleep in the hotel room, I would turn to my right and watch baby elephant sleeping, then look down to see Chris snoring away on my chest. I realized that we were coming together quite nicely as a family. (Vader was showering, enjoying the brilliant rain shower!)
Six months is not a long time to see progress, but when parents are faced with the rawness of a new and difficult situation, it almost seems like it will never get better. After all the worrying and uncertainty, I see that the efforts are well worth it.
After all, what's better than watching a child grow up? Watching two children grow up together, that's what!
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