Jenna Bush Hager took a trip down memory lane on Friday, sharing a sweet video of her now-four-year-old daughter Mila meeting her baby sister Poppy, now two, for the very first time.
The former first daughter, 35, posted the video to her Instagram Story on Friday morning, using the heartwarming clip to pay tribute to the sisterly bond between so many women around the world – including herself and her twin sister Barbara Bush.
The video, which appears to have been taken in the hospital shortly after Poppy was born, a then-two-year-old Mila can be seen excitedly leaning over towards her sister, who is tightly wrapped in a hospital blanket a woolen hat.
Sweet: Jenna Bush Hager has shared a heartwarming throwback video from two years ago showing the moment her daughter Mila, now four, met newborn sister Poppy for the first time
‘Look, she’s smiling!’ the toddler exclaims happily as she eagerly stares down at her precious newborn sister.
She then jiggles baby Poppy’s plastic hospital bassinet, apparently too overwhelmed with energy and joy to keep still.
A man off camera then asks the delighted toddler whether she can tell her newborn sister she loves her, prompting Mila to quietly whisper, ‘I love you Poppy’ at her sister, before leaning over to rest her head on the little girl’s chest.
The video appears to have been taken when Mila’s grandfather, former president George W. Bush, and his wife Laura, brought the toddler to the hospital to meet the newest member of the family and to see her parents, mom Jenna and dad Henry Hager, likely just a few hours after Poppy was born.
Images shared at the time of the proud grandparents posing with Mila and her baby sister Poppy show the four-year-old wearing the same pretty blue dress and white bow in her hair as she can be seen modeling in the clip.
Jenna shared the video as part of a series of images and videos posted in celebration of her newly-released memoir, Sisters First, which she wrote with twin sister Barbara.
The Today correspondent has been urging other women to share their own ‘sister stories’ with the world, noting that she doesn’t just mean tales of solidarity between ‘biological sisters’, but also any sweet tributes to ‘sisters in spirit’.
Overjoyed: In the video, a very excited Mila can be seen leaning over her baby sister as she is held up by a relative
True love: Mila tells her baby sister, ‘I love you’, after exclaiming happily, ‘She’s smiling!’
Look alikes! Jenna’s children Poppy (left) and Mila (right) now look just like their mom and her twin Barbara when they were younger
Family ties: Poppy is now two, while Mila is four. They are pictured with their mother and their dad Henry Hager, Jenna’s husband of nine years
Jenna and Barbara’s own personal ‘sister stories’ make up much of their jointly-written book and include numerous anecdotes from their time spent in the White House.
The girls called the White House home for eight years while their father was president, and the tome offers a unique look back at their lives during this time, covering everything from their attempt to change George’s mind about gay marriage to what it was like to learn that Saddam Hussein’s sons kept photos of them in their gym.
In an excerpt from Sisters First, published by People, Barbara recalled how her Secret Service agents used to sit outside her dorm room at Yale University and pretend to read while watching for visitors.
‘I understood this safety measure after Saddam Hussein’s sons Uday and Qusay were killed in 2003,’ she wrote. ‘Plastered on the walls of the brothers’ gym, American troops found photos of Jenna and me.
‘Our images were scattered among hundreds of photos of naked women. Even though we were clothed, the news was chilling.’
As a student at Yale, Barbara also had to deal with the backlash that came along with some of her father’s controversial policies and decisions when he was president.
Special moment: In images shared from Jenna’s hospital room at the time of her second daughter’s birth, Poppy can be seen wearing the same hospital blanket and a sweet hat
There she is! It is thought that Jenna’s father, former president George W. Bush, and his wife Laura, took Mila to meet her sister for the first time
Opening up: Jenna (left) and her twin Barbara (right) have just released a new memoir, Sisters First, in which they share intimate details about their time spent living in the White House
Barbara recalled getting ‘mediocre’ grades in one of her humanities classes and her TA offered her an A if she convinced her father not to go to war in Iraq.
She explained that the shocking experience left her wondering ‘how many other people thought a presidential daughter should be held responsible for any beliefs other than her own.’
However, as their first daughter, Barbara admitted that she did try to change her father’s mind about gay rights when she was 16 years old, but she ended up storming away from him.
‘I believed that one conversation would be all it took to change is mind,’ she said, noting that her father remained calm while asking her questions throughout their conversation.
Although Barbara knew her father to be ‘accepting and tolerant, she said he was not ‘comfortable with the idea of gay marriage and its implications’ like she was.
During the discussion, her mother, former First Lady Laura Bush, pointed out to her husband that Barbara had backed him into a corner with her argument.
Standing her ground: Barbara revealed she tried to change her father’s mind about gay rights as a teen, but she ended up storming away from him. The Bush family is pictured in 1997
First daughters: The twins are the only children of George and his wife Laura. They’re pictured being held by their parents as newborns
Growing up in the public eye: When they were children, their grandfather, George H. W. Bush, was president. They are pictured in 1991
‘My dad may not have changed his mind that evening, but neither did he try to change mine,’ Barbara said.
Although their father and grandfather George H.W. Bush are famous Republican presidents, Jenna is an Independent, and Barbara isn’t affiliated with any political party.
Ahead of the 2016 presidential election, Barbara even attended a fundraiser for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
The morning after Donald Trump defeated Clinton, the twins were cuddled in Jenna’s bed for ‘comfort’ while her husband, Henry Hager, was away. Clinton’s shocking loss made Jenna question why women aren’t ‘lifting each other up’ the way her sister has always done for her.
The time they spent lying in bed together sparked the idea of their memoir, which is filled with plenty of cheeky anecdotes, including the time their grandmother, former First Lady Barbara Bush, gave them martinis on their 16th-birthday trip to Italy.
Jenna, who is now mom to daughters Mila, four, and Poppy, two, recalled their reaction to the adult cocktail, saying: ‘You want to pretend to like it, but straight vodka at 16? It was no wine cooler.’