Global Traveler

My Little Nephews

I know it has been an unbelievably long time since I have last written. As I stated before, my life is very scattered lately and I don’t expect it to settle down much until March or April. But once I get settled into a place in Japan and find my routine, I will update more often. Right now I am still relying heavily on my gorgeous boyfriend to help me with html, as the learning process has been slow.

Just to update everyone…I am in Florida right now. A lot has happened in the past week and once I get pictures back from those events I will dedicate whole pages to them. For a quick tease on what is to come…I tricked Jed (with the help of all our friends) into thinking that I would be leaving for FL on Friday when we were really having a surprise party for him the next night; I visited the college I was ‘asked to leave’ in Orlando; I have been staying with my aunt and uncle in Orlando and I got to visit one of my best friends, Robin who took me to South Florida and we spent a day on South Beach in Miami and a day in West Palm Beach where we got to try on really, really expensive and humongoid diamonds.

For now, however, I am still in the process of introductions and I wanted everyone to get to know the little men in my life. I am the proud auntie of two little boys, Joey and Tommy. They are little miracle babies. Joey, as seen here...

...was due on February 7th (hmmmm familiar date…) but was born two months early on December 11, 2001. He weighed around 3 pounds and actually looked Asian. However, he now looks a lot like my dad except in a good way, and he has a great little personality. Joey was named after my brother’s imaginary friend from childhood (though some of us still question his present existence). My brother will insist that he was named after my brother but in reverse, but it was told to me that it was really after his imaginary friend. Knowing my brother, I know his “friend” was behind the whole thing. Joey is a little spitfire. He enjoys hanging out alone as he feels that he can entertain himself far better than any of us. The Wiggles are his favorite show featuring homosexual men and he likes to have his belly rubbed, but only by my brother. He has lots of little, sharp teeth and uses them on occasion. His preferred method of travel is a scoot/hop/roll/pivot. He enjoys chocolate birthday cake, peeing in the tub and clapping.

Tommy was even a bigger miracle. He was born 3 months early. An entire trimester! He was due on March 26th but popped out on January 7, 2003. I think he only weighed one or two pounds. He was so little and lived in an incubator just like his brother did. I visited him often in the hospital and touched him by a small, gentle tapping since a pet would likely tear his delicate skin. Now he is a year old and so freaking cute. Unlike Joey, who isn’t a fan of cuddling, Tommy is a snuggler. He can’t get enough of being held and loved, which is right up my alley. When visiting, I usually make a beeline for Tommy and don’t give him up until a cry starts to form, which is when I quickly toss him to my mom so that they think she made him cry. Here is Tommy looking a little surprised and a tad different than his actual self, but you still get the point.

He is damn cute. I am also his Godmother. (Not that I believe in that crap, but my brother does and if anyone was going to do the job, it was me, largely because all the other siblings were used up for the important stuff with Joey. Nothing like being a leftover. But I still intend to do my best as the most nonreligious Godmother the world has ever seen.) I will teach these boys to rebel against the Catholic Church (unless they want to practice) and I will shower them with gifts that my measly paycheck after rent and student loans can buy. Though not as into the homo-Wiggles as Joey, Tommy pretty much likes anything that his big brother does. I am not sure that Joey realizes Tommy exists, but it is cute nonetheless. He looks a lot like my brother but hopefully will continue on a cuter path. If you want to win his love, play pattycake with his feet. He enjoys sleeping on my brothers spot in the bed and screaming these little screams just to hear his own voice. He hasn’t decided how he feels about clapping yet.

So now you have met my nephews. I never liked kids, and in a way I still don’t. These two are the exception to the rule because they are so damn cute, you can’t help but love them and talk in that irritating baby voice when you are around them. Well, that is all for now. Back to sunny FL and worrying that I talk (write) WAY too much.