The Joys of Aunt-hood

I babysat for my sister yesterday. Zachary and Christopher were sadly in bed already and Jessica was at a friends, but Kaitlyn and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We had an incredible dance party and you should have seen some of the moves we pulled out. Kaitlyn is quite the character. She makes me laugh so much! She's honestly one of the funniest... most funny... people I know. Some of the things she comes up with .... brilliant! Our dance party didn't last too long - about a half hour maybe - and then her friend came to pick her up for a sleepover. After she left I was going to settle down and try to do some math homework, but I heard my nephew singing to himself upstairs. Hanging out with him was much more appealing than doing some studying, so I bounded up the stairs and poked my head in his bedroom. He smiled and said, "Hello Auntie Ashley" - that's also something I'll never get enough of, being called Auntie Ashley... I love it! Anyways. So, I went and cuddled up in his tiny bed with him. We pointed out all the machines on his pajamas. Zachary just turned 4 on June 15 and he got some new pajama's so he showed me the bulldozer, the combine, the tractor, the crane, and the dump truck etc. He needed to get some sleep so I was going to go downstairs, as I was walking out I turned and said, "I love you Zachary" and he broke out in a grin and said, "I love you more." Thus started the "I Love You War". It is a wonderful game, you should all try it sometime, preferably with a young child as opposed to a significant other, but whatever strikes your fancy. Anyways, I laughed and told him that he was wrong and I loved him more. He stretched his arms out as far as he could and said that that was how much he loved me. So I stretched my arms out as wide as I could and beat him. He then proceeded to stand on his bed and reach up on his tippy toes and told me, "I love you up through the clouds, over the rainbow, through the trees, around the world, past the sun, and BONK on mine head." I gave him a kiss, layed him down, sang "I'll love you forever" and rubbed his back until he fell asleep. There is nothing more awe-inspiring than the pure and innocent love of a child. There is nothing more beautiful than watching someone you love with all your heart sleeping peacefully in your arms. And there is nothing more wonderful than being an aunt - except maybe being a mom.