"Serena! Andrew!" he shouted with glee as we entered the house. His skinny five-year-old arms held onto Schatzie, the boxer, with surprising strength as he ensured that she would not escape through the open front door. While we took off our shoes, Simon scrunched up his freckly face and stood on his tip-toes, chatting as fast as he could about his latest adventures, giggling as he saw fit.
Even when Andrew scooped him up for a bear hug, Simon kept narrating, using animated gestures and raised eyebrows as necessary to convey his message. Andrew and I were a rapt audience. I marveled as I looked at Andrew and Simon together.
Andrew and Simon-half brothers by blood, full brothers by love, make a striking contrast to see. Strapping versus tiny, man versus boy, tanned versus creamy, stubble versus freckles. And yet, even with all of their dissimilarities, one trait defines them unequivocally as brothers-and that is silliness.
As Andrew teases and tickles Simon, their laughter echoes through the house. Invariably, they soon start wrestling in the family room. Often they try to recruit me in the war against the other, saying "join my team Serena!" When those attempts fail, they decide that I am ripe for an attack, and wage a tickle war against me! Once I am vanquished (I give up easily) the brothers revel in their victory. Andrew and Simon, so different, yet so alike, never cease to relish the time they spend together.
Of course, as a five-year-old in kindergarten, Simon is a never-ending well of precociousness and curiosity, as well as hilarity. Just last week, as he was poring over a dinosaur reference book with Andrew, he decided that his lips were very chapped. Without further ado, he waltzed upstairs to get some lip balm.
Muffled laughter ensued as Simon shortly made his way back downstairs. Where his piglet pink lips typically were, a massive brown blob of goop now held court on his face. Simon had indeed made use of the lip balm. His now clown-like lips, when combined with his periwinkle eyes and dimpled chin, made for an adorable and comical visage. For the next few minutes I could hardly contain my laughter as I looked at Simon. He was so intent on reading his book with Andrew and so blissfully unaware of how humorous his lip balm situation appeared.
Simon is growing up. He's now almost six years old. He's serious and sunshine. He's tenderness and tickles. He's cuteness and curiosity. I have grown to love Simon in the time that I have known him, and I look forward to seeing who he will become in the future.
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| Simon and Andrew on their way to the park. |
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