Mommy's Little Helpers

Ever since Gracie was born, Alex and Olivia have taken their roles of big brother and big sister very seriously. They take so much pride in helping me take care of her. Early on I realized what a blessing their desire to help truly was. Even though there were many times when it would have been easier to do it myself, I knew the best thing to do was to teach them the right ways to help.

Now that Gracie is older (she'll be 20 months tomorrow), they still want to help with her all the time. She is beginning to resist some of their efforts, but she sure loves being taken care of by them.

The other day, Gracie hurt her hand while playing. Olivia and I were in the kitchen when she came in crying and holding her hand out to be kissed. Without even thinking, Olivia put her mommy-hat on and kissed Gracie's hand. Apparently she has the magic touch too. This is how Gracie reacted.

When it comes to meal times, Gracie can now pretty much feed herself anything and everything. Yet Alex and Olivia still want to help. So they'll often take food off of her plate and break it into bite-sized pieces for her.

And every night at dessert time, Alex and Olivia rotate the "chore" of feeding Gracie her dessert. They both run into the kitchen asking me whose turn it is to feed her. Who knew it was so exciting? Once Gracie hears who will be feeding her, she starts to call for them to bring her food. It's a cute little tradition and I'm hesitant to give it up. The three of them really have built a bond because of all this helping.

(Please excuse Gracie's messy face. This girl really gets into her dinner.)

Isabelle loves to help too, but she's been there, done that with being a big sister. It's not as exciting for her anymore, although she does love the responsibility of helping all 3 of them pick out their clothes and get dressed in the morning. She usually tries to coordinate the girls with whatever she has decided to wear that day.

Nothing makes my mama's-heart prouder than watching all of my kids help each other out. I hope they always act this way, although I'm not naive enough to believe they will. But I'll enjoy it while I can.

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