Sisters

Evie is a fantastic big sister! Almost from the very beginning, she's been willing to welcome her little sister as well as someone her size can. While I was still pregnant with Ella, Evie would call my belly "Baby" and kiss it. When Elizabeth was born and Evie was brought to the hospital for the first time, she really had no idea what was going on. The next day, though, she climbed right up onto my bed and peered at her little sister. She was very curious about this new little person and kept beeping her nose and accidentally poking her eyes.

But once the novelty was slightly less fresh, she leaned over to give Ella a sweet little kiss. I'm so glad that Todd managed to catch in on camera before she moved away. I love this picture, and it is still my Facebook picture.

The next day, July 4th, we headed home from the hospital and were welcomed by a party thrown in Elizabeth's honor. Among all of the noise, I caught a few moments of quiet peace with my girls, and Todd took pictures of us.

Evie really adjusted well and quickly to having a new little baby in the house. I was really concerned about sibling rivalry, but I don't think Evie really feels jealous at the attention that her little sister gets. In fact, she likes to help me by bringing me burp cloths, pacifiers, and diapers, and by throwing things away for me. When she does want attention, she'll come up to me and say, "Baby down." Unless I'm feeding the baby at that moment, I put the baby down next to me so Evie can climb onto my lap with a book or just to snuggle. If I am feeding the baby, then Evie is usually content to snuggle next to my side so she can turn the pages while I read to her. Since they have to share a room right now, I was also worried about the girls waking each other up during the night and naps, but Evie is really good about sleeping through the night when Ella wakes up for dinner, and Ella is really good about sleeping soundly during her naps, despite Evie's naptime tantrums.
Right at first, Evie was not really comfortable holding the baby. I tried getting a few cute pictures of the girls together, so I propped Ella into Evie's lap. I got a couple of nice pictures, but then Evie said "All done!" and pushed the baby away.

Now, though, Evie LOVES holding her sister. She'll come up to me and say "Hold sister?" She knows that she has to sit down and put her arms out. Then, I put the baby on her lap and hold them both steady, and Evie just smiles down at Ella and says "Hi!" over and over. Lately, she prefers if I put Ella against her shoulder in a hug pose, and she puts her arms around her and pats her back, grinning the whole time. Then she gives her sister kisses on the head.

She's really good about cheering up the baby, too. If I have to go away for a moment, I tell Evie, "Hey, why don't you sing a song to Elizabeth?" and she immediately settles close by and starts singing sweet little songs to her little sister. She refers to herself as Evie and often refers to Ella as Sit-der (Sister). Lately, though, she's been working on both of their "big" names. She pronounces Evangeline as Een-ann-a-neen, and Elizabeth as A-nan-a-nef. I love hearing her walk around chattering about (and to) her sister, A-nan-a-nef, and I love that she always makes sure to kiss Elizabeth's head every night before bed.
The love doesn't only flow one way, either; every time Elizabeth looks at Evie, her whole face lights up in a giant smile. She knows who Evie is, and when we mention her "big sister," her eyes go straight to Evie's face. 

Even now, sometimes Todd and I hear them quietly chatting together after bedtime when they're supposed to be asleep, but it's so cute that we can't bring ourselves to go yell at them. Instead, we look at each other, and agree that once they can both talk, we're gonna be in trouble because we'll never be able to get them to sleep! The two of them are so sweet together, though, and I know they're already forging a friendship that will last their whole lives. It's what I was hoping for once we found out Elizabeth was a girl, and I'm so glad that my dream is coming true!