Sweet love

I went to check on Lilah last night and she wasn't in her bed.  I found her snuggled up with Ethie in his little twin bed.

This has actually happened a lot lately and it makes my heart  melt every time.  To think that Lilah would want to be close to Ethie and that she feels safe and happy with him, and that he likes her to sleep with him even though she "kicks a lot and pushes me off the bed sometimes" (Ethie's words, haha :)

Those two have gotten so close lately, I think because Lilah has gotten older and can play more.  Lilah wants to do everything Ethie does, just like he does it.  She follows him around and copies him and he loves it :)  She's started singing "Here comes the boom" and "Gangnam style" (with revised lyrics) just like E does and it cracks us up.

She had to pose like E

Monkey see...

Monkey do!

My favorite thing is when Ethie reads to Lilah.  He loves to read and she loves to be read to, so this is a perfect combination.  Lots of times when I'm trying to make dinner or do something, I ask him to read to her and he is so sweet about it.

  They also love to wrestle and chase each other lately.  It makes me nervous because someone usually gets hurt, but they love it and Lilah thinks Ethie is hilarious.  I guess it's what siblings do :)

 They basically have just become very good friends.  They love to play games together and Ethie is good about helping Lilah.  They hold hands when we go somewhere, which makes life so much easier for me!  Ethie helps Lilah say prayers, takes her to her nursery class, and makes sure she gets treats when he does.  Lilah gets very worried when Ethie is upset and waits all day for him to come home from school! 

They are so blessed to have each other!

Being cute at the zoo

One more story about my sweet kids...  The other day when I picked Ethie up from school, I could tell right away that it had been a hard day.  He seemed grumpy and told me that he had gotten a "yellow" in his class.  He immediately asked if he could play with his friends and when I asked him what our rule was (no friends for yellow), he flipped out.  He doesn't have temper tantrums like he used to, but they still happen once in a while and this was a royal one.  He was kicking the seats, banging the windows, screaming, etc.  I was trying to ignore him and get home so I could help him, and he wouldn't listen to anything I had to say anyway.  He was in his out of control place and I know that I can't get through to that until he calms down. 

After about 15 minutes of this, Lilah was very concerned and reached out her hand to touch him.  He was still flailing and he kicked her hand.  I saw her face in the rearview and she looked totally shocked.  And then she started crying, I think mostly because it hurt her feelings.  All of a sudden, I felt Ethie get still and quiet.  I looked in the mirror and saw him watch her crying.  I could see him totally change and his heart soften.  He quickly reached out his hand to her and rubbed her arm.  Then he leaned over and whispered to her that he was sorry and he would never hurt her and he loved her.  He kept rubbing her arm and whispering in her ear until she calmed down and looked at him.  Then they held hands in silence the rest of the way home.

It was so powerful to me because since Ethie was little, I have struggled to reach him and help him when he is angry.  I usually feel totally helpless and have to just let him get it out of his system, which is so hard to watch.  It was so incredible to see him instantly soften and regain control when he realized that he had hurt his little sister.  He loves her so much and that love is stronger than his anger.  I was so thankful at that moment that they are in each others lives because I know Ethan needs Lilah and she needs him, and they were meant to be siblings.