Friday, April 4, 2008

#4: March Nephew Time

Apparently, I'm a little behind--since I've reporting on March nephew time in April! And maybe I skipped a February nephew time report? I'll have to look back to check.

K & I had dinner with my family on Easter evening, and got to spend some time with my nephews. We had to miss the little guy's first birthday party the weekend before because we were in Houston for a wedding, and I was really disappointed that we weren't able to be there. Not just because you only have one first birthday party, but because (shhh!) the little guy is kind of my favorite. I know, it's terrible that I like one of my nephews best. I am focusing on giving the boys equal attention because I am afraid to favor one over the other, and I think (I hope!) this visit I did a good job of that.

The little guy has a personality just like my brother. He's happy, easy-going, and usually content to sit in someone's lap to cuddle or play. (Umm, not that my adult brother is a lap-sitter, just that he's pretty much happy anywhere.) Little guy's high chair is next to my seat at the dinner table (my mom is on the other side of him), so I often get the pleasure of helping out with the feeding. He's eating small bites of table food, and even though he has a habit of flinging or slapping his food around when he's chewing or full, I have learned to dodge the bigger pieces. He cracks me up. Why a baby flinging chunks of food onto the floor at random intervals is funny to me, I don't know. But he also scares the crap out of me when he crams his mouth so full that he starts to choke, which he did during dinner. He quickly dislodged it, so no need to intervene--luckily. He is still fascinated by the little triangle patch of hair K wears below his lower lip, too. K sits to my left at dinner, and whenever the baby catches a glimpse of K, he just stares at his mouth. I have started referring to K as "Uncle Weird Beard" to the little man, and I kindof hope he picks up the nickname when he starts to talk. K oblidges him by moving the little "beard" around and making weird faces. . .all of which simply mesmerize the little guy. It is both hilarious and endearing.

His older brother (almost three!) is currently obsessed with Transformers, specifically Optimus Prime. My brother bought him a transformer book, and told him all about OP, so even though he hasn't seen the movie or any cartoons, OP is all he will talk about. OP is even a motivator to eat more dinner; for example, my brother will say "OP eats his vegetables, so you should eat two more bites." The big guy gobbles them up! I still have to be careful not to let him know when he's cracking me up at the dinner table, esp. if he's getting in to mischief. He looks just like my brother, and it's hard to not find him funny and adorable. My brother, mom & SIL have each told us stories about him talking about K & I when we're not around, though I'm not sure if I believe it. K was excited to hear that the big guy mentioned something about Uncle K's music, since we listened to a cd of his at Christmas. I think the big guy is now K's favorite, haha! After dinner, the big guy found a cooler in the pantry that he wanted to load up with toy cars. K showed him how to open it, and then (a little later) offered to read him the Transformers book. Extra bonus points for Uncle K. Seeing them on the couch together reading a story was killing me with cuteness. Halfway through the story, K realized that the big guy mainly wanted to point out OP on each page and hear about whatever he was doing, rather than the actual story. K is a quick-thinker, so he turned the story into more of a 'Where's Waldo?' much to the big guy's delight. On our drive home, K mentioned that he maybe he could be the cool uncle who reads stories. Awwww!

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