i hope . . .

I hope Braden and Elise always love each other as intensely as they do right now.  They truly are best buds.  Though both of them do their share of "picking" on each other, both also prefer to be together rather than apart.

Elise is usually the earlier riser, and the very first thing she does once released from her crib is to run to Braden's room to find him.  He's not much of a morning person, (much like Billy and I!), but always has a smile for her no matter how irritated he is (and right before he requests that someone make Elisie go out of his room and close the door). ;)

Elise also wants to do everything Braden does (and thinks that if he, at almost 5 years old can do it, so can her 18 month old self too!) . . . Braden is almost always fairly tolerant of this, and sometimes even tries to help her.

Braden is quick to protect Elise if he thinks she's in danger (though he has been known to be the cause of said danger sometimes too), and has become much better about sharing with her.  When we travel in the car he will help Elise with snacks, giving her a few crackers at a time so that she won't dump a whole container all over herself/seat.  He's also started being more helpful at home -- he'll volunteer to help get her a toy or snack, or will help feed her if it's something messy that she can't handle very well on her own.
Braden has also taken a great interest in what Elise is wearing.  While I was dressing her the other day for the colder weather, he commented, "Oh Mommy look at Elisie's cute little socks!"  He also likes to tell her that she looks cute. ;)    Another day I dressed Elise in a sweats and a hoodie and B took one look and said, "I want to wear an outfit like that too!"  I am sure that he won't always be interested (or even tolerant!) of wearing matching clothing with his little sis, but for now it's pretty sweet.


And since a post just isn't as great without some pics, here are a couple more from when we did pictures a couple of weeks ago (apparently I have not had out my camera at home) . . . though neither of these made the cut to get printed, there are parts of both that I really like.  In the first one it's how B has his arm wrapped around E . . .

 . . . and in the second I love how she is resting her hand on his knee