I recently had the opportunity to photograph a sweet newborn.

Janie is the beautiful newborn I got to spend time with. She is the second baby for Nicole and Brad. Janie didn’t come into the world as the center of attention. There’s another young guy in the family, too: Brooks. Brooks probably needs more attention of the two. Maybe you have been the older sister or brother and can relate to what I’m talking about here. I’ve been there…

Human interactions are always so intriguing to me, especially those of siblings.

It’s so fascinating to see how people react to a new presence in their life. While waiting for a second baby, you might be worried about how the older kids may feel: “Will he/she be happy? Concerned? Scared? Excited? A mix of all these big emotions?” The latter of these thoughts is probably the winner. I observed the young boy with his little sister; I saw so many emotions experienced by sweet Brooks. These photos capture his big feelings beautifully.

Inquiring

“What is happening here?” I can hear his thoughts in this photo. He was playing with his iPad, but  had enough curiosity to check on his sister. I imagine what he is thinking here: “Why is this thing is here? Why is MY mom is holding her? Why is she so noisy? Why is this thing moving and acting crazy?”

Disinterest

And now, “Why is my mom trying to give this thing to me? Mom, I am playing with my iPad! Please leave me alone.”

Protection

“Mom, I will take care of the thing! Do not worry, I am a responsible boy. I am the big guy here; I’ve got you covered!”  If mom could hear his thoughts she might have different feelings in this moment.

Love

Yes, this is pure love for the newborn. There’s a sense of protection, kindness and sweetness toward Janie. I can still hear his thoughts: “My little sweet thing, even if you smell differently, I think I already love you. If MY mom and MY dad are taking care of you so well, it means that you are precious. And if you are precious to them, of course you are precious to me as well. Really soon we can share some of my toys. I can teach you to talk; maybe your first word will be my name! You know? I am pretty good with words. We can also jump together at the park, and play with other kids. Oh YES, I think that we can enjoy our life together, especially with a mom like OURS.”

After having edited this session,

I had the uncontrollable desire to search for some photos of my little sister and me when we were around Janie and Brooks’ age. I wanted to see photos where I could read some of these emotions, where I could find something more than a simple smile, and above all I wanted to see my mom and my sister with me in the photo.

These are the pictures my dad recovered for me:

As you can imagine, I felt so horrible when I discovered that I didn’t have one SINLGE photo of all three of us together in the same frame…that I don’t HAVE any single photo of my sister and I together, interacting at the early stage of our life. The first one that we have (holding hands) is from when I was 4 and she was 3. And still, I can’t FEEL the emotions.

I don’t blame anyone for this,

my dad did an amazing job documenting our life, but I long to see the first season of life with my little sister.

What is your earliest memory?

The weird thing is that my memories about my sister and I start around 3 or 4 years of age. I know that you can’t remember your emotions or your thoughts when you were just 1 years old, but maybe if I had a picture of me doing something with my sister, this could help feelings be preserved. I know from my mother’s tales that I was a protective, caring and loving sister. I know that this is true, but I am starving of having photos that show me some resemblance of these stories.

This is the first photo of our family together, posing for someone else:

Again, no special emotions captured here. I treasure all these phots like an important jewel in my life, but I would love to have something more.

I am telling you this story because I strongly believe that

photos, are not just photos.

They are our memory. If you are like me, we forget really easily what happened just yesterday. Pictures can help you maintain your memory and freeze these blurry seasons.

And one last, extremely important, tip:

BE IN THE PHOTOS

with your family. Otherwise your kids will miss seeing you in the pictures when they look back.