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Proud parents Alec and Hilaria Baldwin have revealed a series of intimate family portraits featuring their newborn son Rafael, taken just days after his premature birth earlier this month.
The images, shared exclusively with Daily Mail Online, show the newest member of the Baldwin family happily ensconced in his new home, with several of the picture-perfect images showing Alec, 57, and 31-year-old Hilaria cuddling the two-week-old and his older sister, 20-month-old Carmen. Others see Alec and his wife beaming down at their son, and posing with the tot in his new nursery.
But while the images show scenes of happiness and bliss, the arrival of baby Rafael was not without its complications; Hilaria revealed earlier this month that her son had been born ‘a little early’, expressing her gratitude that, despite arriving earlier than expected, the newborn was completely healthy, weighing in at an impressive 7lbs, with Hilaria joking that she was lucky because ‘given another few weeks, he would have been HUGE’.
‘So excited’: Hilaria, 31, revealed to Daily Mail Online that Alec is thrilled with the arrival of his first son. The mom-of-two, who praised the actor’s relationship with daughter Carmen, said Alec ‘carried around a football for an hour’ after learning that they were expecting a boy
And when it came to preparing her first child, Carmen, who was born in August 2013, for her new role as an older sibling to Rafael, Hilaria revealed to Daily Mail Online that she was apprehensive about how her daughter would react.
‘I was a nervous second time mom because Carmen is in such a good place, and I wasn’t sure how she was going to react,’ she explained.
‘Before the baby was born, I bought Carmen some dolls and we named them Rafael. We dressed them and changed their diapers. Carmen would kiss my stomach and say “Rafa! Rafa!”
‘She understood the things we were saying, but the concept of a baby coming out of my stomach is hard for someone her age to understand.
‘Carmen is the best big sister. She wants to kiss him, hold him, play with him and sing to him.
‘She was so excited the first time she saw him. She had been hearing about Rafael forever and now there he was. The second day she came to the hospital to visit us, she ran in screaming “Rafa! Hermano! Rafa! Hermano!”
‘Rafael is such a cute little kid. He and Carmen look alike. He has Alec’s nose. They both have my lips and chin. One of his ears is identical to Alec’s ear.
‘He’s very different from Carmen. Before Carmen was born, I bought the cutest little girl clothes, but she hated being naked so much that I never wanted her to wear any of it! Rafael is very calm. I can change him as many times as I want. He’s a little poser – he puts his hands behind his head and stretches out. Carmen has a fiery personality and this little guy is like, “I’ll do whatever you want me to do, Mom!”’
While Hilaria had her reservations about Carmen’s reaction to the arrival of her baby brother, doting dad Alec, who has also has a 19-year-old daughter, model Ireland Baldwin, his only child from his relationship with actress Kim Basinger, couldn’t have been more excited at the thought of becoming a father to his first son.
Thinking ahead: Having shared her desire to teach her daughter Carmen Spanish, Hilaria, who was born in Mallorca and spent some of her childhood in Spain, can be heard muttering endearments to her young son in the European tongue in the behind-the-scenes clip
‘Alec is so excited to be a dad to a son,’ Hilaria, who also revealed that she is breastfeeding her son, explained. ‘When I found out I was pregnant with a boy, he walked around carrying a football for an hour afterwards. He can’t even believe it.
‘He has such a strong bond to Carmen. Alec is a fun dad – it’s harder for me to get him out of the pool for dinner than Carmen.’
Indeed, the new portraits of the happy family reveal an incredibly soft side to the Hollywood star, showing him gently cradling his newborn son, while dropping a kiss onto his wife’s forehead. Another black and white image shows the actor cuddling his daughter, with the youngster clearly thrilled with the attention she is receiving from her father.
And in an exclusive video clip taken during the family’s photoshoot, Alec can be seen marveling at ‘how tiny’ Rafael is, before sharing an intimate moment with his new son and his wife in the nursery, with both parents looking down at their son as he wakes up, before Alec drops several kisses onto Rafael’s little hand.
The same clip also shows Hilaria muttering endearments to her newborn in Spanish; having been born in Mallorca, and spent part of her childhood in Spain, the mother-of-two revealed shortly after Carmen’s birth her plans to teach her daughter Spanish. The precocious toddler also appears in the behind-the-scenes video practicing her vocabulary as she sits with Rafael in her lap, pointing at her brother when asked where he is and saying ‘aquí’, which means ‘here’.
Source: Daily Mail
