A tribute to the little people in my life

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I'm pretty much the most obsessed aunt out there. :-) Which is why I'm pretty stoked today that #6 has just arrived.....a beautiful little girl named Hope Aurora Kate Christakis, 10 pounds 6 ounces, born early this morning!! (Okay, so she's not so little....my admiration for my sister Karen just shot up several notches!) ;-) I can't wait to go to Colorado in a few weeks to meet her...and, of course, hang out with her two older brothers!!

Seriously, though, I don't think there's anything I love more than being involved in my little nieces and nephews worlds, loving them, listening to them, playing with them, getting down on their level, and in return getting more adoration than a girl could ask for. And secretly (or not-so-secretly) I love being the favorite aunt, the only one who's single and not wrapped up in my own family, and therefore entirely free to devote all my love and attention to them. Right now, this time, this season, is a pretty smokin' awesome gift...the bonds we're developing are going to last a lifetime!!!

Aaron Jacob....the first to arrive! Aaron was pretty much the cutest baby ever, with his white blonde hair and big blue eyes and endlessly long eyelashes...not to mention his huge grin and eyes that sparkled with mischief (and still do!) I can't believe he's almost seven now...in grade two, reading like a pro, the most natural athlete ever...this kid is going places!! :-)

Our bond has changed a lot over the years as he's grown up...although sometimes it's hard to tell who's the older one in the relationship!! We're always bantering back and forth, trash talking, whispering and scheming behind the others' backs, playing intense games of soccer and football in the back yard and not even trying to reign in our fiercely competitive spirits. :-) We talk tough and play our hearts out, and then in the middle of it all he'll burst into a round of uncontrollable giggles and my heart melts. Then there are the times he gives me a shy grin when I come over and runs to give me a hug, unashamed, or snuggles next to me on the couch with his head on my shoulder while I read him a story. From one extreme to the other...yep, I love this boy!

Hannah Joelle...the most energetic, lively, spunky, dramatic, brave, entertaining little girl I've ever met! :-) Hannah is seriously one of a kind...always bursting out with random hilarious comments, hardly able to sit still for more than a few minutes. She's a super talented gymnast, fearless, and oh-so-creative and imaginative. Her favorite thing in the world to do (besides hanging off monkey bars and doing cartwheels in the back yard) is to dress up in her fancy princess outfits and twirl around the living room while we all ooh and aah. Oh, to be a little girl again! :-)

I love ringing the doorbell at Pam and Jeff's and hearing Hannah's excited squeals through the door, "Auntie Sherry's here!" Then she opens the door and absolutely leaps into my arms, almost knocking me over. It doesn't get any better than that! We have tons of fun playing Polly Pockets and pretending we're kitties crawling around outside (!) and colouring and playing "toilet tag" (don't ask!)...there's never a dull moment when this girl is around!!

Noah Ransom.....oh man! This little guy has had something special about him since day one...my house is practically a shrine to him, even though I can't quite figure out why! :-) Maybe because it took him longer than the others to warm up to me (comes with living a thousand miles away in Colorado, I guess!) but after I spent a month at his house when his baby brother was born, we were bonded for life! We baked cookies and did dishes and read stories and took walks to the park (holding hands, of course...sigh) and watched baby worship DVD's and crafted masterpieces out of play-dough. So much fun!

Noah is quieter and more sensitive than the others, but just as full of mischief...he loves to laugh LOUDLY, he loves to come up with hilarious sayings that he'll repeat over and over just to make you laugh, and his best friend is his stuffed monkey Curious George. I love being Noah's special friend...I love that when we're together he'll come sidling up to me, put his hand on my arm, and say softly in his sweet little voice, "Want to play with me?" I love that at our family reunion this summer, he begged his mom and dad to ride back to Edmonton with me in my car. What a fun trip we had, stopping at McDonald's for lunch and then talking the whole way home. My heart has been forever captured by you, Mr. Noah! :-)



Benjamin Roman.....mom and dad and I took a road trip down to Colorado just before Ben was born, which was one of the best months of my life!! It was so much fun to spend the first weeks of his life together, getting to know this robust little man with the deep voice and hearty laugh who never really seemed like a newborn. I love this guy...he's smart and sweet and tough and manly and has the cutest little facial expressions. And now that he's just starting to talk, I can't wait to see the kind of bond we'll develop. :-)

Ben is all about playing the drums (just like his daddy)...he'll beat on whatever he can find. He's all boy....with many battle scars to prove it. :-) It's SO cool watching him and Noah together, brothers, best friends, playmates, feeding off eachother, hating eachother one minute, loving eachother the next. Karen has her hands full, that's for sure! :-)

Madison Ruth.....ah, Miss Muffin! I moved to Edmonton two days before she was born, so she's the only one I've lived close to since the beginning. And how amazing that's been!! After two heartbreaking miscarriages, Madison was such a phenomenal gift straight from God to Pam and Jeff...a perfect, beautiful baby girl, with her blonde curls, big brown eyes...and what a personality! We used to think Hannah was the dramatic one...but now we know better. :-) Madison is ten times worse...going from the depths of despair one minute, to uncontrollable laughter the next...and in between there are the priceless glares or flirtatious smiles she'll send our way. Unbelievable! Who knew a baby could communicate so much, most of it WAY beyond her years!

But oh, the unexplainable joy when I walk into the room and her face lights up and she starts giggling, reaching out her arms for me to hold her. We'll be sitting at the supper table and she'll beg to be let out of her chair, then as soon as her feet touch the ground she'll run around to my side of the table and crawl into my lap. When I have to leave, she'll stand at my feet hugging my legs and start to cry. Even mommy can't console her at times like that. :-) We chase eachother around the house and look at books together and dance and eat fun snacks and have lots and lots of hugs and kisses and snuggles. And all the while she chatters non-stop with perfect expression and priceless sound effects...never mind that none of it is actual real words. :-) I love you, my sweetheart!


Yep, these kids are my world...and now there's one more little person to love and spoil and get to know!! Three weeks from today I fly to Colorado to start doing just that!! :-)