Elise and 'Colin boy'

I'm a slow learner, but I've figured out this much: There are moments you experience -- sometimes fleeting, sometimes longer-lasting -- as a parent that leave you thinking to yourself: "Self, despite all of your many parenting screw-ups, you must be doing something right."

I had one of those moments shortly after Colin was born. But luckily for Anni and I, it lasted about 15 minutes.

Colin was born on a Monday morning, and with the birth, then the post-surgery recovery, and then the move to Anni's hospital room, it was mid- to late-afternoon before we were settled. There was a long line of nurses, doctors and PCAs visiting, along with our family. Because of those first-day activities, Elise didn't have much time to see Colin.

The following day, I picked up Elise from school and we drove to the hospital to visit. On the way there I reminded her that we were going to see "Mom and Colin."

"First I will see Colin, then I will see Mom," Elise said, repeating it a few times to make sure I understood. (That's life for Anni: Just starting to recover from giving birth and already knocked down the family totem pole.)

We got to the hospital and Elise beelined it to Anni's room. They were waiting for us.

"I can hold him?" Elise asked.

She's really good with babies, so it wasn't an issue. She sat in a chair and I put a pillow on her lap, then Colin on the pillow. I sat in the chair next to her and snapped some pictures but then Anni and I just watched as Elise held Colin for about 15 minutes. She didn't say much, occasionally breaking her silence with observations about his face, ears, hands, etc. She didn't flail or bounce him from her lap. She understood what to do and was gentle with him. This, coming from the girl who sometimes pinches as a strange sign of affection.

Here's a little of what we saw:

With that, we were off to a good start. Elise assumed the role of watchful older sister, keeping a close eye on Colin in the hospital room. When he cried, she wanted to know why. When I wheeled him to the nursery for a routine test, Elise was in tow. When the nurses tried to take Colin from the room, Elise actually cried.

 She stood at the window to watch the nurses take Colin into the nursery.

 

In the past two weeks, Elise frequently has asked to hold Colin. She lays next to him. She kisses and hugs him. She helps to change his diaper; she likes doing the "snaps" on his clothes.

When he's crying, she sometimes consoles him by rubbing his head and saying, "It's OK, Colin boy." We're not sure where that came from, but even I'll admit it's pretty cute. She also calls him "little man," which she started at the hospital, and we're not sure where that came from either.

Anni put Colin on his stomach for "tummy time." Elise enjoyed it more than he did.

I'm sure this doting phase will give way to Elise's conclusion that this annoying attention-grabber is here to stay, and then we'll be on the receiving end of the antics that go with that.

When that happens, we'll just watch the video above.