Blessed with a Son

When my first nephew was born, I was so in love. He made me an aunt for the first time—well before I thought of becoming a mother myself—and because of that he'll always hold an extra special place in my heart. At every age, he was the cutest baby I'd ever seen. When he was a newborn, he was the cutest newborn ever. When he was a few months old, that was even better. He turned three years old this month, and there has never been a cuter three-year-old! He has always been the smartest little kid, and I couldn't believe he remembered Greg and me, even though we didn't visit more than once a month. I couldn't believe he could recognize us from pictures. Everything he did amazed me.

I think being Lucas's aunt prepared me for having my own son. I didn't know much about little boys, being from an all-girl family. Lucas opened my eyes to the ways of little boys, the adoring eyes and endearing qualities, like how much he loves tractors and anything with wheels, how much he likes for me to sit under the play structure and dig with him, or run through the corn rows in Papa's garden, or pull him in the wagon. Lucas was a little daredevil from the beginning, wanting to be pushed in the swing and get tossed into the air. And Ethan is just the same!

Being Ethan's mom is an enlightening, exciting experience. He makes everything seem more important. He "talks," laughs, smiles and interacts with us; he studies his toys with a profundity that confirms our hunch that we're raising a little genius (!); he stares deeply into our eyes and flirts and pretends to be shy (which he is definitely not!). On our daily walks, he silently contemplates everything around us, occasionally letting out a little sigh of satisfaction. We are so blessed to be his parents.