Maximus,
When daddy and I started the foster care process, our biggest concern was how this would affect you and Titus. There were times throughout our classes and discussions about foster care that you seemed upset that we were going to bring in another child. At first I think you were confused because you seemed to think that bringing "a new brother or sister" into the home meant you would have to trade Titus for them and you didn't want to lose Titus :). Once we explained to you that that wasn't going to happen, you seemed a little better but still hesitant.
Then Mariah came into our lives. She was 4 months old and had been living with our friends the Henderson's since she was born. They asked us to watch her for 5 days while they went to Disneyland and we agreed, excited to see how our family would handle having a third child in the home. Well instantly we all fell in love with her. You and Titus just kept wanting to play with her and talk sweet to her. By the time the 5 days were up, we were all really sad to see her go. Fortunately, the Henderson's recognized that bond that we developed and talked with us about maybe one day moving Mariah into our home longterm. Since then we have spent every weekend with her. She is an absolutely precious baby. She is so sweet and she doesn't cry much, but when she does, you are always right there to comfort her, without me having to ask. In fact, this morning, I heard her start to fuss and by the time I got up and went in to get her, you were in her room, down on your knees with your arm reaching in the crib and rubbing her hair. You were singing "Hush Little Baby" to her. I could not believe how sweet that moment was. You have such a genuinely GOOD heart. You have so much love for others. That is my favorite thing about you. While we are speaking about things I love about you, how about the fact that you are four and have begun teaching yourself basic addition and subtraction! You have been reading for almost 2 years now, so I guess it made sense that you would move on to another subject! I just can't believe how smart and intuitive you are.
You are also so funny. Today when I was telling you to taste your vegetables, you told me (as you have a couple times before) that "sometimes you just taste food with your heart," in order to get away from having to eat them! Haha, you just crack me up.
I recognize that it is tough to be the oldest because we have really high standards for you and we expect you to lead your brother(s and sisters) by example. I hate to admit that sometimes I am especially harsh with you when everything seems chaotic. I regret that and will try harder to keep my patience. I love you sweet boy.
