The Adventures of Patch and Tiny

So Carson has a cousin named Patrick (a.k.a. "Patch" or "Pat-Pat," which is what he calls himself).  Patrick is a lot of things:

• a genius
• hilarious
• curious
• sweet
• a wonderful cousin
• a TOTAL cutie, exhibit A:

Patrick has been very interested in Carson since she was born, and he started off calling her "Tiny Baby Carson."  He has since shortened this to just plain "Tiny," which is what he calls her these days.



Here is when they first met:

While we were hanging out with Patrick and the rest of my family this weekend, we caught this video of him interacting with Carson while his mom Angie holds her.  You should know a few things before watching this:

• Angie and my brother Toby are expecting a baby girl named Madelyn in about 6 weeks.
• Patrick was the only grandchild for almost a year and a half before Carson came on the scene.
• At times, Patrick has struggled with people in the family holding Carson when he's pretty sure they should be holding or playing with him.  He usually expresses this with a simple, "Move," directed at Carson and a gentle nudge in the direction he'd like her to do so--or occasionally with a big ol' dramatic FLOP on the floor.  Poor guy--it must be so puzzling.
• Carson is equally confused by Patrick's existence.  At one point in the video, she seems to play dead as a method of self-preservation.
• Toby and Angie have handled it all with saint-like patience.  Truly.  They should be given a medal for working with Patrick's confusion and--well, let's call it what it is--jealousy with such calm and tender hearts.  I know I would be thinking, "Holy crap.  What are we going to do when there is ALWAYS another baby around???" as I moved slowly into full-on panic. But they remain gentle and unruffled.
• We're not sure why Patrick doesn't want "Tiny" to have the pacifier, but he is dead-set in his decision.  And beyond that, all he wants to do is hug her.

We're so excited to watch Patrick, Carson, and Madelyn grow up together.  They are bound to have some grand adventures!