Best Buddies

When TJ and I found out we were having a baby boy I was so excited! One of the reasons I was so excited to be having a boy was because I knew he and Tate would be best buddies! And they were. When I was pregnant Brandi and I would always talk about how fun it was going to be to have our boys so close in age. We always teased that a few years down the road we’d have to buy houses next door to each other so Tate and Kaden could do everything together and always take care of each other. (But I wasn’t really teasing and I’m still not. I still want to be next door neighbors, k brand?)

The day after Kaden was born Travis, Brandi and the kids came to visit us at the hospital on Trav’s lunch break. Of course Lexi and Hunter wanted to play with TJ so they probably went and did things that weren’t necessarily appropriate for the quiet postpartum hallways. I just remember when they came back they putting hand sanitizer on and it squirted in one of their mouths, I think Lexi’s, and there was a minor panic attack. But that’s not my story. While TJ and the kids were gone, Brandi pulled Tate out of his stroller and we laid the babies on the bed next to each other. Tate had always been so tiny but I remember we all talked about how big he looked next to Kaden and it made us all so happy. When they were next to each other, Tate just stared at Kaden with the Tate stare we all know and love. I’m pretty certain he was just so happy to be with his buddy again and he didn’t want to take his eyes off of him. It was so fun to finally see our boys together! I know they knew each other and not too many months before they had been playing up in heaven.

From that moment on, Tate and Kaden were always right next to each other when we were together. They were destined to be best buddies whether they liked it or not. I loved that we had so many of the same outfits to dress our boys in. We always put their carseats right next to each other where ever we went. And it seemed they were always touching or reaching for each other when they were close enough. Oh how I love these little buddies!

Kaden became mobile a little before Tate and I’m afraid that probably caused some grief for Tate since Kaden often found himself on top of Tate. Instead of going around, Kaden tends to just go straight over things. I’m sure Kaden took one too many toys from Tate, but Tate just loved him. He never got mad and he never was rough when he certainly could have been. That’s how Tate always was. He only knew being sweet. As Kaden gets older we will always talk about Tate and those are traits I hope to teach him by talking about how Tate treated him.

One of my last memories of Tate was when we all went to City Creek towards the beginning of April. We went to eat lunch at the food court and everyone went to get their food. I waited at the table with Tate and Kaden. I sat their with those two little boys sitting in front of me in their strollers. We told stories and giggled and I snapped some pictures of our best buddies. Since they were in their strollers they couldn’t get too close together, but the entire time we waited for everyone, they kept trying to hold hands. It was the sweetest sight and something I am so grateful to have witnessed.

One of the many reasons I’ve been sad through out all of this is that I’ve been sad for my Kaden. I’ve felt so sad that he won’t have his best buddy by his side throughout his life. I always imagined Kaden looking after Tate and making sure kids at school were being nice to him. Little did I know Tate would be the one watching over my boy. I’m sure there are times when he is still right by Kaden’s side. Brandi, I’ve told you this before, but when we are at your house, Kaden is different and I know it’s because he feels closer to his best buddy Tate. And I think that’s another reason he loves you so much, because he knows you are Tate’s mommy. I know Kaden won’t remember playing with Tate, but he will know about Tate because I am always going to talk about him and tell him about his forever best buddy. They are the cutest buddies and I’m so glad we had our baby boys so close together!