Jane: On Being an Aunt

Just LOOK at this baby! Isn't he adorable?

That's my brother, Bill, holding his new baby, Samuel Ellis Claspy, who was born on Sunday.

I've really been excited about this baby's arrival. Every time the phone rang last week, I'd jump up, saying "maybe that's Bill!" On Sunday, once I knew they were in the hospital, I practically sprinted upstairs to get the call that came late in the afternoon!

Later that day, I strolled through Target with Eli, looking for some baby things to send to Samuel later that day. Eli asked "Who are Samuel's grandparents?"

"Well, you remember Pam and Doug, Kim's mom and step-dad?"

He did.

"And his other grandparents are Grandma and Grandpa Claspy."

"But they're gone," he pointed out.

"Yes, but they'd be glad to know about him," I said.

Samuel will only have grandparents on the one side, but he will have a doting aunt (at least one) on the Claspy side. He's a lucky boy because his Aunt Jane is no longer in the midst of baby raising and can devote more attention to him!

Maybe that's one reason I've been especially excited about this particular little person's arrival. It's been a really long time since I've had a baby, and it sure is nice to think about babies, get pictures, and anticipate a visit. My own ex-babies, now teenagers, don't particularly like to be hugged and held, but I'm thinking I can catch up on boy-snuggling when I visit Sam this summer.

Probably that's another reason I'm excited about this little guy: he's a little GUY. I'm kind of looking forward to having another boy-mom around the place. Both Bill and Ellen have girls, and our extended family was pretty much a girl family (Bill was the only boy among 10 girl cousins) so our family was used to--and I think I can say preferred--girl babies.

Hard to believe? Well, here's just one bit of evidence. I remember once sitting in the family room with Mom and Aunt Dee and Eli on my lap. Aunt Dee was talking about her daughter, Nancy, who'd just found she was pregnant (first of 5 times . . . ). "They found out it's a girl!" said Aunt Dee. "I'm so glad! Girls are so much more fun than boys!" Maybe that's true, but I remember hugging Eli and thinking that I wish she'd give my little guys a chance!

So I'm looking forward to seeing, once again, how fun tiny boys can be. Of course there's little difference at this newborn stage, but in a couple years, I'll get a chance to enjoy it again, around this little Sam. I'm not sure I even remember what particular things they do. Kim will have to catch me up on it as Samuel grows up! Mostly what I remember is that I fell more and more deeply in love with them as they grew.

I think Kim and Bill will be awesome parents, too, and I'm looking forward to seeing that happen. Bill has experience (two wonderful girls, age 16 and 12), but it's been a while since he's had a baby! It will be fun to see him being a baby-dad and toddler-dad again.

Kim will be spending a lot of time with Sam as she has a semester leave PLUS a sabbatical--a whole year off!--so I'm looking forward to hearing about her life with Sam.

I know that Grandma and Grandpa would be enjoying all this, too. They sure enjoyed being grandparents.

As an "older" aunt--with almost grown kids of my own--I get a little preview of what it might be like to be a Grandma. Looks really good so far!