An "O"d to Uncle Ian

Aurelia's birth transformed many of us into first-time someones. I became a mother. Jonathan became a father. Jeri Lynn became an aunt. And Ian became an uncle. I believe we have all relished our new roles in life and are grateful that it was Aurelia who gave us new titles and new reasons to be better people.

Like so many wonderful things about Ian, being an uncle just came naturally. Since Aurelia was born he has eyed her with a particular attention, that it seems he has set aside just for her. My favorite thing he does with her, and has always done with her, is that he can immediately make all of her problems disappear. Like magic, Ian comes into a room and if Aurelia is crying or otherwise disturbed, he approaches her and reminds her that "Uncle Ian is here, so no more problems." More often than not, her tears dry up. His smile melts aways her tiny infant angst and she stares at him. It is, hands down, my favorite thing about their uncle-niece relationship. I love his confidence in the mantra. Literally, since the week she was born he decided that he was the answer to her troubles and reassured her that it was so. She has problems, he makes them disappear. I hope it continues for the rest of their lives. One of Ian's many, many talents is making up incredible songs on the spot. Here he is with Aurelia, singing a song about how she is problem free. I love you, Ian. You are an amazing uncle.

Honey came to visit last weekend and we had a ball. Although Aurelia did not make her a grandmother, Honey also has her own magic with her.

We took the girls to a local city water park and Honey took lots of pictures of us playing in the water. What an awesome weekend!

You may be wondering what the "O"d part of the post title refers to. Well, if you have been around an infant learning to feed herself, you likely know that O's (as in Cheerio's, or Organic Whole Grain Cheerio's lookalikes) are an important part of most meals. Here is a video of Reli eating her first O's. She has improved quite a bit since we shot this clip, but it was fun seeing her first foray into the world of tiny food stuffs. (Clearly Whitney and I got a kick out of it).

And last but not least, Aurelia had fun playing with her cousin Koruna and Runa's Mr. Potato Head glasses - a Heald girl favorite.