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Thanks to Aunt Andrea for the pictures.

Her spunk. Her humor. Her smile.

His giggles. His smile. His snuggles.

I can’t express how much I love these kids. I feel so incredibly blessed. So inadequate.

Thanks to Aunt Andrea for the pictures.

I think it’s a given that if you have more than one child, there will be some amount of sibling rivalry in your house. However, I didn’t realize how early it could start. I expected some jealousy in the beginning but not a lot and in good form, Leah handled the addition of Joel into our family pretty well.

What shocked me (as well as made Morgan and I laugh) was when we heard the phrase, “I had it first” followed by grabbing the other day. It is only a matter of time until these words and other similar phrases are common place. I was giving Joel a bath with Leah’s help in the bathroom. Leah likes to have her own cloth when bathing Joel so she can help too. She let go of her cloth and it happened to make its way into Joel’s hand and he held on tight. Leah went from enjoying the experience to panic in half a second and in an agitated, desperate tone declared, “I had it first” while prying the cloth from his hands.

Poor Joel had no clue but didn’t seem to mind that his object was been pulled aggressively from his hands. I know one day this scenario will more than likely result in two hysterical, crying children but for now, I’ll treasure the humor and attempt to teach Leah how to calmly use her words. Hopefully she will grasp the concept before Joel realizes what his big sister attempts to get away with.

On Canada Day, we spent the morning at my mom’s work, Krause Berry Farms. Morgan and my dad flipped and served around a thousand pancakes for their annual pancake brunch to raise funds for breast cancer research. I helped set up and a little bit once it got going but Leah and Joel kept me busy. Leah had over five pancakes which were her breakfast and lunch. Here she is enjoying one.

She also enjoyed their brand new playground but the highlight of her day was when one of her best friends stopped by with her family. Her buddy was the first child I looked after in my daycare and Leah and her became quite close and though I no longer provide childcare for her, they still carry that special bond.

Leah is getting more confident to go off on her own in public places. Thankfully she asks before she leaves my side for the most part. She no longer requests I stay right by her side on a new playground with kids she hasn’t met before.

Leah is generally quite responsible. She comes to me if someone is disturbing her play and asks what to do. Today I was picking out paint in the paint store and it was taking a long time so she was getting antsy. She looked around and then asked if she could run in the store.

Here is the first card we have received from Leah without our help and with her own words. She made it in Sunday School with help from her teachers. It melted my heart. How sweet.

I am a big list maker. Almost daily I have a list of things to do and it gives me such a sense of accomplishment to cross things off as I get them done. Leah has picked up on this and made herself a list. Her list items, in case you can’t decipher them, include feeding Joel milk from a bottle, going to bed and eating dinner. She repeated these over and over again. Love it.