Party girl and the big bro

P had a bday party today. After addressing his buddy's gift, he announced that Zia needed to wear a party dress. He joyfully pulled out the gorgeous frock Aunt Maria gave her, shuffled around the drawer for a bit, and then added the adorable tutu skirt Aunt Alicia gifted (both so wonderfully girly sweet that they could easily stand alone as party wear - but no - not extreme enough for the Little Man to define as Party Princess wear;). He hopped up and down chanting "I'm going to have so much fun dressing you up, Zia!".

His adoration for her Blows me away. Whenever he meets someone, he brags and brags about how she's *already* climbing the stairs and walking. I hear him exclaim, multiple times a day and totally out of the blue, "Zia! You Are So. Cute!". If she falls and cries these days, he rushes to her side making funny faces. And they look at each other and laugh and laugh.

Yes, he tosses her toys and yells "fetch!". But she seems to think it funny ;). And, yes, he repeatedly shut her into a cardboard box the other day (ditto on her thinking it was funny) while he cackled rather malevolently.... But all in all, his joy in her astounds me. When she walked much further than her usual four steps tonight, it was to her brother, who awaited her with open arms and an Enormous smile. So. Sweet.

Anyhoo, the party was lovely and the dresses much admired :). (Thanks awesome Aunties!!!). And when we returned home much later, Superman was practically done with our patio!!! We walked to the store to fill our empty fridge and caught a great view of the eclipse. Five thousand years later (or so a grocery run with two children on a Sunday at the dinner hour seems...) we returned hone to find that Superman's patio was Perfect. A few more weeks (months) of kicking ass at this place and we may be ready to host our own party, replete with dresses, of course :)

Zia, party prepped by P. And Z, happy at the party with a Big Sword.