In Zoe's shoes

As the youngest of three, I cannot relate or begin to understand what has transpired for my 2 1/2 year old "niece" since the birth of her brother Maddox. She has floored myself and her parents with her understanding of Maddox's existence. For months now she has talked to Andrea's belly saying things like, "I love you baby brother." We did not think she was actually understanding that her brother resided in that womb and would one day present itself.

I picked Zoe up at the family friends house to take her to the hospital to meet her baby brother the day after he was born. In the hallway of the hospital Zoe loudly announced, "my baby brother came out of my mom's vagina." She came into the room cautiously and moved slowly in a mild state of shock as she laid eyes on her brother for the first time. She quickly warmed up to the sight of this tiny baby and leaned in for a kiss and said, "I want to take him home."

At the time of his birth Maddox still had no name and Zoe offered up a multitude of suggestions including Peekak, Elmo, Melman, Max etc. The hospital even gave Zoe a pink hospital bracelet stating, "I'm a big sister!"

After several hours of visiting Brandon and Andrea were growing tired of tending to a 1 day old son and a 2 1/2 year old daughter. Aunt Brook created some distraction and successfully found an activity around town suitable enough to leave her family behind at the hospital. Only a few minutes after driving away from the hospital, I glanced back at Zoe and noticed she had quickly fallen asleep. I cannot imagine the surge of mental and emotional energy that must have been circulating through her body from staying a night away from her house for the first time in her life, meeting her baby brother and an introduction to a new life where her parents now must divide their attention between the children.

I treated Zoe to a fun time at Jumpin (land of inflatable castles) and on the way home she said, "I want to go back to the hospital to see Momma, Papa and baby brother." We found ourselves again at the hospital and Zoe provided quite the entertainment for a couple more hours. When it came time to say good night I felt ecstatic that Zoe came with me without much of a fight.

The following day Maddox came home from the hospital and Zoe enthusiastically welcomed him home and wanted to give him a tour of the house.