Who are those guys?

Magnet #885 - Butch & Sundance

I got this Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid magnet from my Union Square magnet guy a while back, and I'd been saving it to talk about branding (go with it).

But, I'm staying with a good friend of mine, and her family. The last time I was out here was for a wedding, and I've never met either one of her young boys, about four and just under two. But now, I feel like I'm hanging out with a baby Butch and Sundance.

First, let me set the stage: If you know anything about me, ya'll know I'm a baby whisperer. Babies always love me. They come into my arms from the get-go, and we're best pals after that.

It's my fat face. They see themselves in it, and immediately think I'm one of them.

So it was disconcerting for me to get into the back seat of the car yesterday and have the youngest boy panic and not stop crying for a good ten minutes. I'm sure it was because a complete stranger got into his car with him, because he eventually he warmed up to me. But still. Disconcerting.

Second, while the baby was down for his nap, we got to hang out with the oldest boy, who, aside from his baby brother, is just the coolest kid ever. My favorite incident with him by far, is watching him tie a tether ball to his giant playset...and proceed to try and sit on top of that ball. Uhh, yeah. You see where this is going, he's not quite Eagle Scout-level at knot-tying. So we had to run out to the backyard and come grab him before he truly let go of the beam to sit on the tetherball. Whew.

It's funny for me, because I grew up mostly around girls, so watching two little boys rough-house and interact is so much different. We spent most of the morning with the youngest boy while his older brother was at school. He's an explorer - running around and choosing to play with sticks, rather than watch the giant elephants at the zoo.

But, when we picked up the older kid, the youngest's personality totally changed. He became much more animated - keying off everything his older brother did and said. It was like the oldest one had a tiny little shadow. I love it. They're so great together, it's lovely to see.

And of course, fresh from Comic-Con, I've already given them a superhero names -

SuperTaj!!!!...and THE SHADOW.

(Yeah, you kinda have to hear it to like it. The boys sure love it, though, cuz they burst into giggles whenever I say it.)