Sisters

I've been excited for Emily to have a younger sister from the moment we found out Charlotte was going to be a girl. Mostly because I have the raddest sister around, and I can't imagine my childhood (or adulthood) without her.

It's been so fun watching Emily and Charlotte's relationship change and grow. I remember hyping-up how much fun having a sister is before Charlotte was born, so much so that Em looked thoroughly confused when we brought home this tiny (well not so tiny) helpless baby who couldn't even hold up her head, let alone *run* and *sing* and *dance* and *play* with her.

Luckily, Charlotte's quite capable of keeping up with Emily these days, and each week seems to bring on more and more things they can do together. Unfortunately, the girls have been taking turns getting sick the past couple months, and each time one gets hit with a bug we do our best to keep them apart so the other won't catch it. (Which has worked!)

Recently after a few days apart, Emily wistfully whined, "I really miss playing with my sister." And with all the times Charlotte tried to run into Emily's germ-infested room, we could tell the feeling was mutual. Thankfully the moments they are reunited are so-so precious and joy-filled, something we all need after an exhausting couple of days.

A few weeks ago Emily surprised both me and Charlotte by puffing up her chest and really taking on the role of being a big sister.

We were at the park on a playdate with another family with a 4 and 2 year old. (Having kids two years apart is all the rage these days, apparently. We're so hip.) The girls were across the park, having a ball. Charlotte, our little monkey, was climbing up a ladder, which she does all the time. And Emily was patiently waiting on the ground for her turn.

Somehow when Charlotte got up to the second step, her foot went passed the ladder rung and instead of stepping up she sort of sat down.

I was in the middle of meeting another mom (of a 5 and 3 year old, naturally) and wasn't sure if I should excuse myself and run across the playground to rescue my kid. Maybe it would be better for her to figure it out on her own?

During my internal "to rescue or not to rescue" debate, I watched our skinny (some might say scrawny) Emily use all her might to try and lift Charlotte's bottom up so she could regain her footing and continue climbing the ladder.

Now even though Emily's got 2 years on Charlotte, they both weigh-in right around 31 lbs - Charlotte's just a more... compact package. So honestly, Emily never really had a chance. But it was super sweet to see her try.

Then, in a the blink of an eye, both girls tumbled down to the sand. My heart skipped a beat when I saw them lying on their backs until I realized they were giggling. Giggling. I'm not sure exactly how it happened - I do know Charlotte lost a shoe in the process. So I excused myself, saying I needed to help her put it back on.

But really I just wanted to give my girls a hug. No one got hurt, and I loved watching them work together and seeing Emily step up to care for her sister.

I'm certain they'll take turns lifting each other up in the coming years. And although they might not always succeed, I can't wait to watch them try :)

Quotations

I once had a witchy, but effective, English teacher who berated students for using the word "quotes" when referring to snippets of conversations. She insisted we call them by their proper name, "quotations." Something about one's a verb and one's a noun... ;)

Anyway, here are some good quotations, from our conversations as of late:

Emily, at 10pm, was coming up with excuse after excuse about why she couldn't fall asleep. This was our favorite: "But it's so hard to NOT think of Pumas."

Charlotte: "I.did.it!!!!" Whenever she does something, or anyone does something for her. So in a way it means "I did it - I got Daddy to give me more pretzels / cheese / yogurt / blueberries!!!"

Emily, in a super inquisitive voice, "Why do I get hurt so much?!? I just don't know."

Emily often asks us why so-and-so does something, and then she'll answer her own question by saying, "Because that's how God made them, right?" Which has proven very helpful in appeasing our quizzical girl who asks about all sorts of tricky situations. Although, this backfired on us once when we were complaining about her s-l-o-w eating habits. She wisely asserted, "Well that's how God made me." Touche' Em. Touche'.

Walking home from gymnastics in 85 degree weather, I said, "I sure hope the house is cool when we get home." Emily then said, "I sure hope the house is clean when we get home." What!?!? She followed that up with, "I don't know why, I just like a tidy house." Agreed, Em. Agreed.

Charlotte wakes up every morning and asks excitedly, "Hoper day?!" (She spends weekdays in Hope's care.)

While watching me brush her hair in the bathroom mirror one morning, Em got all serious and asked, "Mom, don't you sometimes wish you had long hair like me??"

One evening while playing on the floor Emily suddenly asked, "Can we make some dust carrots?" We didn't quite know how to respond, until a couple seconds later when she said," You know, for the dust bunnies to eat??" Guess we need to clean under the couch more.

Charlotte's tasked with being a "good girl" so often, she now instructs Mama and Emily to be "gooh ghirls" too. After bedtime hugs, before leaving the house, when Emily runs to use the bathroom. And she wags her finger at us when saying it too, so we know she means business.

These girls of ours are chatterboxes... so more to come soon!