The timing could not have worked out better – I was scheduled to capture Maddison’s Fresh 48 session (That’s “Maddie” to her Daddy!) at the same time as her 2 year old big sister Leila was due to come in and meet her. These are the moments that you can never get back, these are the moments that you want to be able to absorb when they’re happening, but you also want to be able to look back on them. Having these moments captured means that you’re able to sit back and really be IN the moment, safe in the knowledge that they’re being captured and can be revisited long after the time has passed. These moments you can never get back – Leila will only meet her baby sister for the first time ONCE. I was sooo glad to be there to capture it for them during their Fresh 48 session.
These images truly tell the story of Leila’s first meeting. Nothing was forced and we all let her take her time. She came into the room cautious and unsure. Her fingers remained in her mouth and she was curious, but hesitant. She sat with her mother but wasn’t yet ready to kiss her, and she definitely wasn’t ready to kiss her baby sister. She’d look at her and touch her – point out little parts of her, but you could see her mind ticking, and the silence from her reflected that something big was happening in her little life. As time went on however, you could see her relax. She became more comfortable, more talkative and open, and you could see that she was beginning to accept this new little person. And then it happened. She suddenly just lent over and kissed Maddie. She’d been asked a few times earlier but wasn’t ready to show such open affection, and then suddenly she WAS ready, and she just DID IT. She kissed her little sister and I pulled up that camera as quickly as I could to capture it. And then she was happy to kiss her mum and her dad as well – her walls were down and she was comfortable. I love that it all happened organically, that she was allowed to just take her time and express her feelings once she was happy to.
Maddie sneezed at one point, and this really tickled Leila’s funny bone. She laughed about it for a lot of the remaining session! Leila is going to be an amazing big sister I think – she was already trying to help her mum dress Maddie, and once that first kiss was over, she was more than happy to show Maddie lots of affection. Both parents said that Maddie looked so similar to Leila – that when she was first born it was like looking at a little Leila again. That familiarity brings so much nostalgia, and also reminds you just how quickly time passes. Although those early days/weeks/months/years can seem so long and never ending, they’re really not. There are so many changes that happen, so much growing and so many phases, routines and ‘new normals’. Having a new baby is a strong reminder of that, as you look at your older child and suddenly it feels like only yesterday that they were that small as well. As Maddie’s dad said ‘The days feel like weeks, but the weeks feel like days’ and it’s so true. Time is a strange concept when you have kids.
Maddie was such a beautiful and alert little baby. Her eyes already seemed so focused and alert, and she spent her time either peacefully sleeping, or happily awake and looking around. Once her big sister warmed up, the room was noisy and busy, but Maddie was just watching and taking it all in. She’ll have to get used to noise and chaos I’m thinking!! I absolutely loved capturing Maddie’s Fresh 48 session, and the icing on the cake was being able to also capture the sisters meeting for the first time. If you book in a Fresh 48, you should consider timing it to include a sibling meet as well!
If you’d love to capture the special memories in a Fresh 48 session, you can Contact me here. You can also view my Fresh 48 Portfolio here and learn more about what a Fresh 48 session is here.
