Baby Ethan and Happy Birthday Willa

Willa wanted only two things for her third birthday: To hold her new cousin Ethan, and to stack ALL of her books on her nightstand. I'm happy to say she got both her wishes (and a bit more!).

Baby Ethan flew all the way from Virginia to meet his cousins and to celebrate Willa's birthday. Willa has had this love connection with Ethan ever since the day he was born. I'll never forget Matt calling us from the hospital and we could hear Ethan crying in the background. That night we told Willa that one day she'll get to meet and hold Ethan, and she jumped up and said, "Let's go right now! I want to hug him!"
Ever since that night, she's always talked about holding Ethan like it would be the most special thing ever. Her eyes get really big when she talks about holding him, and I can't even count how many times she has said, "You mean I can really hold him? All by myself?!"

When he arrived, Willa jumped right into action and held him every chance she could! I love the picture below--you can just see the love in her eyes-

One day Willa and Ethan sat on the couch together for well over an hour. It was the most precious thing to see--Ethan was totally content just being next to her and she was having the greatest time talking to him. She told him how she wanted to paint his fingernails just like hers someday, and she examined every inch of him while she talked and held his fingers in her hand.

Larkin was not quite the natural when it came to babies--
She liked to admire him from a distance but it usually took some work before you could convince her to hold him. She got nervous if he made any noises, and babies do make lots of noises! She did love him though and has talked about him a lot since he left. Today she interrupted a conversation with, "Wasn't baby Ethan just so cute? I just can't believe how cute he was."

By the end of the weekend, Ethan started doing a belly laugh every time the girls just looked at him. He loved watching them play and run fast by him. We took them all to a playground one afternoon and Ethan burst out into a belly laugh when the girls ran on a suspension bridge. So of course the girls ran and bounced over the bridge many, many times, and Ethan got the hiccups from laughing so hard!

They also could make him laugh by sticking out their tongues, and Matt said that on the flight home Ethan figured out how to stick his own tongue out and then he laughed hysterically. I'm sure that's the first of many tricks the girls will teach him!

Bathtime

Three kids, three smirks!

Almost all the pics of the birthday party are copied onto my mom's computer (thanks Auntie Laura for taking all of them!) and I don't have access to them tonight, but here's one pic of Willa and her THREE candles! I'll do another post sometime next week about her birthday and the party.
Thank you so much Ethan, Uncle Matt, and Auntie Laura for being a part of Willa's special day!