Sisters

Our life with our two girls is ever-changing. Ella is on the move and standing so Lilly is much more interested in her little sister. At times she enjoys playing with her and other times she seems fixated on touching, lifting, rubbing, falling on, and torturing her baby sister. I truly believe she harvests no ill-will toward Ella but instead finds it all one big interesting experiment. What will happen if you step down on a baby's ankle while said baby is trying to crawl away? Or how will a baby react if you pull one leg out while she's standing? It's very interesting to watch the dynamics change. And if Ella continues growing at the rate she's grown for almost 8 months she will surely be much bigger than Lilly and I wonder how that will play out...

For now I will relish the times they spend enjoying one another.

Remember the post I wrote about loving pictures for the story behind the picture? I love how Ella is learning from her big sister. She watches everything she does intently as you'll see in some of the other pictures. I also love Lilly's summer glow in this picture. She loves the pool and her hair has the summer bleach and her skin is golden in color. I love summer and so does she.

Ella watching Lilly. The love in her eyes when she sees her sister is a sight to behold.

My sweet sweet girl playing with her blocks. She spends a lot more time standing these days...

This picture warms my heart. Lilly stroking her sister's cheek with complete adoration.

See this look of concentration on Ella's face? It's a look we see often these days. She's determined just like her big sister. This picture is deceiving which is why I like it. I was there and know what's happening but if you only saw the picture you'd think Lilly's upset over Ella touching her new alphabet wipe-off board. In actuality Lilly was asking me if she could share her new board with her sister.
This one; oh this one tugs at my heart so very much. Lilly thought I was taking a picture of Ella. Again, see the concentration on Ella's face? I love that. Lilly was trying her hardest to look at the camera (something I'm always working on with her). She was taking a risk and stepping outside her comfort zone to make me happy. But she was doing it "safely" as she didn't think I was focusing on her. A reminder to me that deep down, children really do aim to please and I find this so very sweet.