Mad Dog Loves Eli!!

I seriously cannot stress it enough. I'm sure every parent that has a daughter sees the crazy love and compassion girls possess, but it boggles my mind daily. Maddux is so selfless and overly-concerned about Eli's well-being... A few times in the last month she's been hurt, but still asking about him (as in, she falls off of a bike, but through her tears asks for Eli). And on our trip to the beach last week, two instances stick out in my mind.

• The night we went to get ice cream, Eli was working on a horrible mood. The night before we all lost the opportunity to get ice cream (even though we'd planned on it) specifically because of his 'tude, so this time around I'd warned him that 'we' were getting a treat, but he may not be. The entire walk to Seaside found Maddux asking me over and over, "Can Eli get ice cream now?" "Is Eli earning back ice cream to eat with us?" She was not content to get a sweet treat unless he would be joining us.
• We had one full-on family night at the beach. We cooked up a bunch of seafood and played some family games. One game was Memory. Eli was fine, but tired, when we started the game. His first turn found him to be the only person who had not made a match. In a very non-Eli-like-fashion, Eli's face screwed up into tears and he sobbed. Maddux was so quick to try and console him, assuring him that he'd get a match next time. She was like an over-concerned parent, doing her best to pacify her poor, sad child. She was not happy until he got a match and felt successful.