Today, my sweet nephew turns three years old.
Three.
It’s insane to think it’s been three entire years since he entered this world and completely changed our lives.
Every new age and stage becomes my favorite. And age two has been delightful. His personality has developed and he’s become more feisty and funny. He’s stubborn and the spitting image of my brother.
For some reason, I was always really worried he wouldn’t develop a good sense of humor. I’ve known too many kids who cannot handle being teased, but this kid can dish it out and take it. His sense of humor is something I love most about him and I especially love how we already have our little inside jokes. I can only imagine we’ll develop more and more as he grows up.
He loves taking pictures and always seems to find my camera when he’s over our apartment. He snaps photo after photo after photo. They’re usually pretty blurry since I always make sure the flash is off because he likes to take photos of himself sometimes. He’s actually a pretty good photographer, which makes me wonder if it’s something he’ll develop a passion for later in life, or if it’s just something fun to do for now. He’s started doing this thing where he takes a photo of one of us, turns the camera around to look at the screen, and then show the picture to us, saying, “Aww!”
One of my most favorite developments of this past year is watching the relationship between him and my mother grow. When he was a baby and toddler, he would usually cry whenever we went to see him. It was heartbreaking, although he would usually calm down after a few minutes. And now? He loves coming to our apartment. He loves titi abuela (as he calls her) and is incredibly possessive of her. He absolutely loves talking on the phone with her and she puts her heart and soul into taking care of him when he’s over. He takes a bubble bath every single time he comes to visit. (Every. Single. Times.) I mean, I always knew I had the best mother in the world but now I know my kids will one day have the best grandmother in the world, too.
In every new picture I see of him, all I can think is: he’s a boy now. He’s not a baby. He’s lost the babyness in his face and I can already tell he’s going to be lanky and tall like my brother. I always thought the baby age would be my favorite and while that age is pretty amazing in its own right, this age is also pretty awesome as well. Being able to talk to him on the phone, laugh with him, and play crazy made-up games with him is something I never really thought of when I heard I was going to be an aunt. But it’s the most amazing part of all this.
Being an aunt is an amazing job. I knew it would be a fun gig, but never knew it would be this fun or fill my heart with this much joy.
Are you an aunt? What do you love most about being an aunt?
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