Big brother meets his sister

Saturday, February 13, 2010 10:25 PM, EST

DAY 48

Six years ago today, David proposed to me in a park near my apartment under a sculpture of a family of acrobats. Little did we know how appropriate the image of two parents juggling several children in the air would be for marriage and raising kids together. Every couple feels the strains of being pulled in different directions and the endless sequence of tag-teaming to get all the domestic responsibil

ities. You don't need one kid in the hospital to feel continuously pulled apart.

Today we celebrated the anniversary of our engagement, as a family. We enjoyed being all together start to finish and not feeling torn. It started with a Diego themed birthday party for James's friend, Miles. Then we ventured uptown on the A train (riding the subway is an adventure in itself to James) to the hospital. This was James's first time to meet his baby sister. Columbia allows siblings and even has babysitting on Saturdays so parents can stay for longer visits in the NICU. James was so excited to meet her. He was very well behaved, speaking quietly so as not to disturb the other babies. He smiled the whole time and asked to hold her and to have her hold his pinky. We told him he couldn't do this yet, but that MG would really like it if he sang to her. He sang the alphabet song, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and "Frere Jacques" a dozen times and delighted when she twitched her feet or stretched her hand, signalling she liked it. "I think she likes me," he said.

James was not worried by all the machines, tubes, and wires. He thanked MG's nurse for taking care of her. He looks forward to coming to see her again. We look ahead too with the hope that having James there today renewed in us...more times together as a family of four, especially if it involves singing and James holding Margaret Grace.

BW