Nicholas was just three years old when Ava was born. We told Nicholas that
she was sick and that doctors were taking good care of her in the hospital. We didn't want to scare him by bringing him to
the hospital to see his new little sister with lots of tubes and wires on her body, so he waited to see her when we brought
her home for the first time after her first surgery of the heart. She was just 2 weeks old. Nicholas is too young now to really
understand everything that is going on in Ava's belly, but one of these days he'll understand and just know how special to
have Ava as his own little sister.
We told Nicholas that her little liver wasn't working like ours
and his and that the doctors had to make sure it worked okay.
Nicholas would look at Ava's belly and see her scare and says, "Mommy she's
got a big owy." He would be very gentle with her and loved to kiss her on the head and give her lots of tight hugs (squeezes).
Nicholas would show signs of being a protective big brother. When
I have had to take Ava with me to drop Nicholas off at school, the kids want to touch her and Nicholas just says, "no no touch,
wash your hands."
Nicholas loved when Ava would babble and laugh at him.
