sisterly love!

I think it is safe to say my girls love one another. From the day Cecilia was born Olivia was immediately infatuated with her sister, and so far the novelty has not worn off. In fact, the love she has for Cecilia has continued to grow, and if I had to guess the feeling is mutual.

I was totally prepared for Olivia's behavior to become a bit sketchy once Cecilia joined our family. I completely expected for her to be jealous and unwilling to share us with someone else. I guess I should have given my sweet girl a little more credit. Not once has she complained about this little person that has invaded our house and her space. She has taken her role as "big sister" very seriously and has proved herself to be the "best sister". She is always willing to play with her while I do things around the house. She watches her for me when I have to dash up stairs to grab something. She gets her toys or anything else she needs. And if she kisses her once she kisses her at least 10 times a day.

Here are a few things that Olivia says to me on a regular basis about her sister...
"I just love her so much...I can't stand it!"
"I can't wait until Cece starts walking so she can follow me everywhere!" (We'll just see about that).
"I will always take care of my sister, like when you and Daddy are not around anymore." (Notice how she is thinking ahead?)

Watching my girls establish a bond that will last their entire lives gives me more joy than I can explain. Seeing Cecilia's face light up whenever Olivia is around makes me excited to see how their bond will strengthen over the years.

Cecilia has been a busy girl lately. She is officially a sitter. She can sit unassisted for a good 10-15 minutes before toppling over. Even when she falls over she either rolls or pushes herself most of the way up to seated to get where wants to go. She gets up on all fours and scoots herself backwards, but has yet to officially crawl. I have seen her push a knee forward on occasion, so I know she will be moving soon. She has also found her voice, making herself heard quite often. "Dada" tends to be her sounds of choice, but I have heard a "mama" in there too.

After a lot of anticipation her first tooth finally popped through a few weeks ago. Since it is on the bottom it is hard to see, so I have not been able to snap a picture of it quite yet. She is loving all of her foods and is a connoisseur of most fruits and vegetables. She is one incredibly happy and fun baby right now. I am just soaking up every second!

We have been staying pretty busy so far this winter. Olivia has been perfecting her swimming skills with lessons each weekend. We have had very little snow this season but she did get the chance to play in it a few times in January. It seems like whenever we get snow it is gone within days due to the above average temperatures we have been experiencing. One weekend the snow stuck around long enough for Olivia to make her snowman. She named him "Snowcone". The day after she built him we had temps in the low 50's, so unfortunately Snowcone's life was short lived.

We celebrated Valentine's Day in full fashion once again this year. Olivia gets totally wrapped up in holidays so we went all out with decorations, treats and of course...heart-shaped food. For the past three years we have made heart-shaped pizzas. The only difference this year is that Olivia no longer needs Mommy's assistance. I shaped the pizza dough and she took it from there. I'd say she makes one mean Valentine's pizza.

There was no shortage of love in our household this Valentine's Day! There was a time in my life when I thought I would not have enough love in my heart for two babies. What was I thinking? This year my heart is practically bursting at the seams with the love I have for both of my girls. I sometimes stop to think what their relationship will be like in 20 years. Right now Olivia thinks her sister is the best little person on the planet. I have no doubt they will have their tiffs as they grow up with one another, but I can tell already that the bond they have created will last a lifetime!