middle child.

independent. peace maker. unafraid of authority. rebellious. generous. 

Our Riley, at two years old, fully embodies many of the ways one would describe a middle child. Our family dynamics are a bit unique in that our oldest splits his time with us and with his mom in another state. While Rashaun is not always here with us, Riley LOVES his older brother. Big R and I were amazed with how quickly Riley took to Rashaun. Rashaun can do no wrong in Riley's eyes. 

Short story: A couple of weeks ago when we dropped Rashaun off to his mom at the end of the weekend, Riley literally cried like he lost a piece of his soul when he realized his brother was leaving. It was sad. Big R said Riley can't ride to drop off his brother anymore, because it hurt him to see Riley crying like. (Daddy is a softy, low key)

Then there was Mia. Mia quickly came about, and took some of Riley's shine. Riley was not at all interested in Mia when we first brought her home. In fact, he was quite mean to his sister at first. Several times he took his aggression out on her directly, and she was hit by him more than once. #fail. Just recently he has started to become more kind and loving toward her. He shares with her, and whenever we're leaving he always make sure we have sissy in tow. He calls her 'baby,' and he is slowly starting to evolve into his role as big brother. 

There is the notion of the middle child getting the least amount of attention. Well folks, in our house that is far from the truth. Our Riley demands our attention, and we all love him for it.