Picture perfect

I have a picture as my desktop wallpaper of my kids when Jack was 3 and Violet was about 5 months old.  We were at Balboa Park that day, and Violet was sitting in her stroller.  Out of the blue, Jack went over to her, took her hand in both of his, and began patting it in time to song he started singing to her.  I quickly got out my camera to capture the moment, and it has become one of my favorite photos.  Jack looks so happy and fond of his sister, and the look of adoration that baby Violet has for her brother is priceless.

I feel so blessed to have children who genuinely seem to like each other.  It is not uncommon for Violet’s first words upon waking to be, “Where’s Jack?”  Jack almost always wakes up earlier than his sister on weekend mornings.  On the rare occasions when I am awake before Violet rousts me out of a sound sleep, I will to into Jack’s room to say good morning.  It’s never very long before he tells me that he wants Violet to wake up so he can play with her.

My current Facebook profile picture was taken on Mother’s Day.  Jack has so many professional photos taken of him, because of school and T-ball, that I try to make it a point to hire someone to take pictures of the entire family right around Violet’s birthday.  The photographer took a lot of beautiful shots of the kids together and individually. She sent me the one in question that night and said it was one of her favorites.  Jack is looking at the camera with a sweet smile on his face, and Violet has her arms around Jack and her eyes closed in an expression of such contentment and love.

One of the miracles of parenthood is how seeing how much my kids love each other makes me love each of them even more.