Oh Brevin.

The past few visits we have had with Brev have been, well... hard. He's been a bit stingy and mean, a bit whiney and hard to take. No, my sister won't be upset that I am saying these things because they are true and because my love for Brevin is never in question. I love him- to the moon and back again. It's just that he's a boy who has been hit pretty hard by the addition of another little boy in the family.
Ev and Brev have a pretty tight relationship and I have always wondered if Ev getting a brother would throw a wrench into the situation. It didn't for 10 months. And now it has.
You see, there was simply  no issue between them at all- at first. Liam would tag along behind and think he was playing and that was cool. Then the boys started trying to have their own thing and Miss Facey Boss butted in. This caused tension and the need for Ev to take sides against Brevin to "defend" her brother.
Then too, we are moving.
Brevin does not process change well. Brevin does not express his emotions well. Alot of things with the little guy get turned to anger.
So he's mad.
At Ev.
At me.
At Liam.
At the world.
He's been crying to his mom that he doesn't have friends. He does though.
My take on this whole thing is that he is mad that he has to re-configure how he sees Evelyn and that we are moving. He has to see another little boy in the family. He has had some insulation as we live an hour and a half away so the jealousy has taken some time to build and reach maximum capacity. At the same time this hit him, he is trying to process that we are moving and that is so very hard for him.
My heart just hurts for him. We have all tired being understanding and firm with his bad behavior and to be honest, for a bit, I just saw the bad behavior and not his pain and grief and the way he is floundering within his own family.
Ev is going to Grandma's all by herself this weekend. It will just be The Brevelyn. Maybe that will help. I hope so. Ev is so worried and confused about Brev right now. She loves him but she has very little room for what she sees as infractions on the part of others. She wants to be with him, she knows that we are moving too, but it has been a bit hard lately.
I so want to see this boy laughing and playing again. I so want him to feel secure and loved and knowing that he's still Ev's number one guy, that Kel- Kel will never be too far away- not really, that he will get to go fishing with Uncle Les. I want him to know that it will all be okay because we love him..

Picture snapped after The Great Silly String Stingy Incident of 2011

 So stop acting like a jerk already.