Sisterhood.  Oh what joy I have already watching my two girls together.  I am pretty sure Leslie will grow up knowing deep in her soul that from her first breath she has had Whitney’s unfaltering love and devotion.  Whitney has adopted Leslie for her own and can’t get enough of baby time, always asking to hold her, declaring it’s time to change her diaper, wanting to pick out clothes for her, and being {annoyingly} close while baby is breastfeeding or sleeping.  I’m pretty sure that the best things we’ll ever have done for Whitney will have been giving her first a brother, and now a sister.  I can’t stop taking pictures of the kids, the longer it takes me to draft this post the more images I keep adding…I love seeing this relationship develop!

At first meeting, Whitney surprised us by being very timid, it was as if she met a real live baby doll that she didn’t expect to move (and certainly not cry) and she didn’t know how to react.  For a while she would hardly speak when around the baby, and even became a sort of selective mute at other times throughout the day – one time it took her a good 15 minutes to verbalize that she wanted ice cream…she was stubbornly refusing to request it (except for in sign) and we held out to see if she would be motivated to speak….finally she whispered “ice cream please.” 

She’s been wanting to “help” me with everything.  Here she’s reaching in to get baby in the car seat on our way home from the hospital…I welcome the help, but am also cautious.  I’ve seen how she carries her dolls (by the hair) so I’m glad Leslie has no graspable hair and am definitely watching Whitney closely as she gets more and more brave and interested around her sister.

The first thing Whitney did when we all came home from the hospital was play with her dolls.  It was dolls non-stop…Tyler and I both did double-takes when we found the doll buckled in the car seat.  I also found her trying to put on my Moby wrap, so I made one of her own that she could hold her dolls in. 

Bath time is intriguing, especially when Gramby is involved.

Here she is basically sitting in my lap while I’m nursing Leslie.  Look at the smile on her face – she just wants to be a part of everything!  On this occasion when I finished I held Whitney in my lap, and the held Leslie on Whitney’s shoulder for burping.  It was a pretty sweet moment with my girls.

These last two were taken by my friend, Naphy – I love them!  Thanks Naphy!!

photo credit to Naphy at www.scatterjoyphotos.com