Recent Pictures...Finally

 Ella loves her brothers and wants to be wherever they are. Up until recently, she would routinely get shut down by Cooper who misunderstood her presence as a threat to the things he was playing with. So, Jackson has been her safe haven because he is old enough to realize that she is not a threat in the least, and instead a pretty sweet little girl who is completely smitten with him. And after much coaching about being gentle and explaining that Ella really doesn't know what she's doing but that you can be pretty sure she is not intentionally trying to be mean, Cooper is coming around too. He now likes to be the first one to enter her room in the mornings to greet her as she wakes up.

A few days ago, Cooper and I had some time to ourselves. We went all around town running errands and having fun until I guess time got away from me. At some point in the afternoon, I looked in the rearview mirror to realize we had powered right through Cooper's nap; as you can see, he had taken the matter into his own hands. He would probably want me to tell you that he is no longer in this "baby seat" because it has since been converted into a "big boy seat"--a feat worthy of telling friends and strangers alike, usually with much jumping up and down.

♦