Aunties

Soren loves his aunties. Aunt Annie, Aunt Rachel, Aunt Ruth.

Each of my sisters has her specialty and own relationship with him.

Annie, though she sometimes claims he is beaming information to an alien spaceship somewhere, loves to hold him and tote him around everywhere. I think his charms are thawing her I-am-too-cool-to-be-completely-enraptured-by-this-baby attitude. She often "steals" Soren from Rachel, much to Rachel's irritation.

Rachel always wants to hold him and kiss him and play with him.

She could play with him for hours. She plays games with him and is always doing thoughtful things for him. She has sewn him a hoodie, a teddy bear and a dinosaur. He LOVES the teddy bear.


Ruth loves to hold him and talk to him. She gets huge, crescent-eyed smiles out of him. Soren loves to grab her and climb on her and have her with him when he is playing. She is good at playing with him. She doesn't push herself on him, but is just happy to be there and be amazed at his growth and accomplishments, laugh at his cuteness, and just simply enjoys him. When he wants her, she's ready.

I am grateful we live close to my family. Emotionally, I have needed it as I have gotten used to motherhood. I am also glad I get to be involved as my younger siblings grow up - that I am able to be a part of their lives and be a sister, instead of the distant older sibling with a family they never feel close to, both because of distance and because of the different stages we are in life. I am also glad that Soren gets to see them a few times each week - he loves the interaction he gets with them, not to mention the loads of attention and love.