finally a big sister

 
It’s happened on many occasions over the years. I arrive at a client’s home for a newborn shoot to find extended family members there also, wanting to be a part of the miraculousness that new life brings. While I understand this inclination, it tends to add an element of chaos to the scene, especially if there is a young sibling involved as well.

It was my third attempt at the coveted “newborn with sibling shot”, and big sister had been promised that as soon as we got this image she could join the other family members already splashing and playing in the pool just beyond the sliding doors we were photographing in front of. Of course since children live in the now this was unacceptable to her, so pretty much every other second she pleaded dramatically, “can I go swimming now?”

Newborn brother had also had enough of the distraction and constant handling, and was crying loudly in protest. I looked over at the weary mom, who I know wanted this shot more than anything, and we conceded that it just may not happen under these circumstances. Suddenly the grandmother gathered the hysterical baby in her arms announcing we needed to give it one last try. She would calm the newborn and hand him back to his big sister.

Grandmother left the room with the baby, and the ten minutes or so she was gone seemed like eternity for both big sister and me. I’d been there over 3 hours with little to show for it and truthfully wasn’t so optimistic at this point. When the grandmother returned and carefully placed the newborn in his sister’s arms he immediately resumed crying, and it appeared we were done. And then the singing began.

I’ve never heard anything quite like it before, but something in the young girl had shifted, and her attention moved from the laughter in the pool to the sobbing of the baby in her arms. She was singing “Jesus loves me” in an almost operatic manner, not like a child at all. The baby’s crying didn’t subside but lessened in intensity, and now she was completely focused on only him, and I on her.

Her mother had told me during their maternity shoot that for a couple of years now, when anyone asked the young girl what she wanted to be when she grew up she would thoughtfully answer, “a big sister”. She was ready for another baby long before her parents were. In this moment I was privileged to witness the loving and nurturing nature of a child fully engaged in the much anticipated role of big sister. The tenderness of both her lullaby and her touch were more moving than my resulting images can adequately convey, but I’m grateful nonetheless for being there.

~Cynthia