#4: July Nephew Time

No, not more ranting about the 13-year old who stayed with us for a week. Yesterday, we had a family lunch with my parents, brother, SIL and their two little boys.

The littlest fella, C, is just over 16 months old. He adores my parents, especially my dad. Probably because my dad (who he knows as "Poppa") is willing to pick him up and hold him any time. Really, both of my parents are suckers for either of the boys, but I think C tends to favor Poppa just a tiny bit. C is walking fully on his own, now, though he doesn't really talk. He'll repeat some words if you ask him and he's in the mood, but he mostly sit quietly or makes other noises (like a vrooom when he's being pushed around on his little "bike"). He thinks it's pretty funny to point to (or in) his eye if you ask him where his nose, mouth, ear OR eye are located. He loves to eat cherries, and ignored the rest of his lunch in favor of the cherries his mom had pitted & cut up for him. (His love of cherries necessitates shirtless meals for him. When he finished, he had cherry juice from his neck to his navel AND all over his face and head--even the back. He looked like a toddler extra in a horror film.) He also loves to eat whole grapes. There was a bunch of sliced grapes on his plate, but when he moved over to his big brother's chair (after A decided he was finished eating), C happily stole whole grapes off his mom's plate--under her supervision. He's always a tiny bit shy when he first sees us, but he warms up quickly. I played a fun game with him after lunch. He decided that it was hilarious to lean forward across the table towards me and giggle. So, I did the same thing. He decided this was the best game ever, and we involved ourselves in it for a good 10 - 15 minutes. He's so stinkin' sweet! I just want to squeeeeze him.

His big brother, A, turned 3 at the end of May. Right now, he's struggling with potty training. Apparently, he's pretty good about going #1 in the potty, but he's not that in to going #2 in the potty. I overheard him being told that if he goes #2 in the potty, he can watch cartoons again. Poor kid; he LOVES his cartoons. He is talking quite a bit these days, but on Sunday he wasn't very interested in playing with me. He still likes his other aunt (SIL's brother's wife) best, booo! SIL told us a story about her father's birthday party, where A specifically asked Aunt V to take him to the bathroom because "she's his favorite". Grrr! Apparently, I need to start lining my pockets with Dibs, which he loves and enjoyed for dessert. Maybe the kid just prefers brunettes, who knows. Either way, I apparently need to step up my efforts to get him to like me. :o)