Too old (and brave) for Nono

Since moving to our new house things have changed a lot for all of us.  A lot of it is good but some things are harder as well.  Harri has been the one who has coped so well since moving.  There is so much going on with each of the boys, but for Harri most of it is positive.

For the last 18 months or so Harri has carried Noah's monkey 'Nono' around with him everywhere he goes.  I haven't minded at all because he has brought him a lot of comfort with everything we have gone through.  Poor Nono goes through stages of being totally filthy and has had many washes in the washing machine, only to be filthy again within a couple of days.
When he is feeling a bit stronger he would leave Nono at home a bit more, but there have been times when he has clung onto him non stop.  He would go to school with him every day and his teachers were so understanding and wouldn't mind at all that Nono was a part of the class.  It made me smile when Nono was even mentioned in his end of year school report last year. This photo of Harri was up in the entrance at school during the first couple of weeks this year.


During the first couple of weeks at school this year, Harri had to make a poster that showed a map of his heart.  He was so excited for me to come over to school to see it as he was so proud of it. It made me smile when I saw that Nono was right in the centre and was so big on it. It looks like Nono is just as important as his 3DS and Aaron and I, and Jay and Harri come a close second ;) Notice he only drew Kobe and Jay and I, even though he mentions 'Mum and Dad' and 'my brothers'.  That made me sad.

Nono even comes to church with us every week.

Since we've moved into our new house things have changed a lot.  The first couple of days Nono went to school with Harri, but then after school he would ask me if I thought it was a good idea that he left Nono at home now. I told him I thought it would be a good idea, but only if he felt happy to go to school without him.   He told me that he thought he was getting too old for Nono.  I told him it was okay if he still wanted to take Nono with him, and then he said 'I'm too brave now too' which made me so happy.

He has continued to leave Nono at home on his bed every day, and now he only sleeps with him at night which is such a huge step for him.  I'm so proud of him and am so happy that he's feeling a lot more secure since moving into our new house.   I wish I could say the same for the other boys.  We still have a long, hard journey in front of us.