My girls - H

Having a newborn and a 2 year-old, the contrast between them is quite stark. As small as J seems to me sometimes, she is indeed growing up and more a little girl than a baby. I look at my baby E sleeping soundly on my bed, utterly helpless without me, and then I watch my J in the bathroom undressing herself to get ready for a bath. I must admit it made me a bit misty to realize just how big she's getting, and just how independent she's become. Although it's my job as a parent to do just this, it's not easy to realize that it's happening so fast. My time with my kids is but a moment really. I realize that when they're gone, I'll wonder where the time went. I'll miss them so much.

One of the wonderful things about J is that she does love E so much. She has her moments when she gets jealous, but so far it seems as though she's adjusted quite well. It helps that Daddy's been home for the last week and a half and that she feels comfortable with my parents who have been here a few days now. She has enough attention and variety to keep her satisfied. I've been noticing though that I probably need to give her more E time than I have been. She loves to hold her baby sister. She loves to help with diaper changes and be involved with her. She even ordered me to hold Baby E when she was crying to help her stop. I've been trying to be sensitive the other way and make sure that I don't constantly drop everything to attend to E, but it seems that J's nurturing side would demand that I do.

Today, J wanted to hold E for a while. It's so very cute. She holds E in her arms and gently kisses her head and face. Today, J wanted help to hold E over her shoulder, so that E would rest her head on J's shoulder. It's been wonderful to see such interactions and such tenderness from J toward her sister. She said to E today that she was wonderful and beautiful. How awesome! I love my two girls!