Being an uncle
The best days of being an uncle are now. Of course I can always spoil my niece, but it's something to spoil your niece in person. I'm not sure if Gen remembers me from a few months ago, but it didn't take long for my wonderful charm to work on her. It's interesting that for some people, I'll shave to be respectful - i.e. some weddings. For Gen though, I thought she might like my goatee.
It's all about hanging out with Gen. 1st thing in the morning, I peeked into her room to see her - head buried in her bed, butt sticking straight out. Gen has this cute shy little smile. She's so tiny. Almost 2 years old but 18 month clothes are still a little big for her. She's got this quiet little voice - kind of like Jocie. Instead of just running in circles - which is much easier for me since I got longer legs, I decided to slow things down. We played around with Photobooth. Then, instead of just the books, I decided to do image searches on google for various animals - duck, dog, cat, cow. I even included a part of showing Gen was steak and brisket were.
So far I've taught Gen fingers and toes - she moves her fingers or wiggles her toes. I've been trying to teach her words like "awesome" and "obey." Kids are so cute at this age. She loves chatting it up on the phone with her gibberish. I'm sure that in a few days I'll be sick and tired of the Winnie the Pooh song from her little toy car, but until then, it's just part of the wonder and amazement of seeing Gen smile, dance, and laugh. It's the simple things that make me treasure life.
*Special props to Rachel and her good clothing finds. My niece saw the new clothes that I (more like Rachel) got her. She immediately reached for the dress and tried to put it on. She pointed at the Keds and immediately went, "Shoes!" It was like seeing Christmas morning. Kids are amazing.
