Never forgotten

Meeting the twins

When I gave birth to The twins, the moment I was looking forward to most, was introducing them to Amanda. I couldn't wait to show Amanda, that the "babies who lived in my belly button for nine months were two living breathing human being we got to take home.
The moment was so special i trusted everyone in the room to capture it for me. I even made sure someone videotaped, but thanks to an excellent view of my underwear throughout the entire thing, I cannot share it with you.
What's so bad about a hospital gown upshot, you wonder? Perhaps you don't remember that after giving birth, you are given boy shorts made of gauze and told to stuff them with puppy pee pads.
But I digress...
Amanda walked in wide eyed with both hands pressed against her cheeks like Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone. Then she ran excitedly over to my bedside, stopping short just before she reached Riley.
"Who is that?" I asked.
"IT'S MOMMY!" she shouted.
"No, who's THAT?" I asked again and pointed to the baby.
"It's Riley or Alex" she said a little unsure of herself.
"Who's Riley" I prompted her.
"My big sister."
"No, YOU'RE the big sister!" we all laughed. "Do you want to give her a kiss?"
Amanda obliged, the room let out a collective "Awwwww..." and my heart swelled ten times the size of Texas.
We asked Amanda if she wanted to hold Riley and then sat them together in a chair, Grammy spotting Riley the whole time, just in case.
There is seriously nothing better than watching your normally wild soon to be four year old try to be as gentle as possible with your newborn. Amanda cradled Riley on her lap as she pet her shoulder protectively and looked at her with both love and awe.
THIS, I thought, is what parenting is all about.
Then Amanda told me she brought the babies lollipops. I told her that they were too little to eat a lollipop and she said, "But I'm not too little to eat a lollipop!" And that's how Amanda snookered us into letting her eat candy at the hospital. The girl is GOOD.
Now. Most people share the one perfect photo that captures the pure joy a child feels when meeting their baby sibling for the first time.
I will not be that selective.
After going through the numerous pictures taken by Wilmer, Grammy, my sister, etc. it is clear that Amanda didn't just go through one emotion that day. She went through many.