That's What Little Boys Are Made Of

So, I have this nephew, Sparky. He’s almost two years old and is the cutest thing you’ve ever seen. He is also going to be a GREAT athlete one day. He has a rocket arm, can even throw a spiral, plays golf, has a great batting stance and his wind up isn’t bad either. One day, I am going to be able to sit in the stands and tell people all about my nephew and how much fun he was as a child. I can’t wait, but I bet my brother can.

You see, right now, Sparky lives in a house with his mother (Diamond) and his half—sister (Diva) along with Z and the new baby (Cranky). I am the nearest relative and baby sit frequently, I have Baby Girl and her friend (Crack Head 2) that is here most of the time. Needless to say, he spends a lot of time with females. Now, Sparky doesn’t talk much – he grunts A LOT but talking really isn’t his thing. He has no need for words, he knows what he wants and he points to it, you get it for him or he will smack you with a golf club – no need to bother with actual words. However, he is EXTREMELY smart. He understands everything you say to him; there is no doubt about it. He pays very close attention and can mimic anything you do. This started to become very apparent several months ago.

When I moved into the same neighborhood as Z & Diamond, Sparky started coming to my house more often. He would follow Baby Girl around and watch what she and her friends were doing. One day, he discovered the bucket of ponytail holders under the sink in Baby Girl’s bathroom. This bucket of little treasures became his favorite toy. Not because they made great sling shots……because they looked pretty in his hair. He would bring me one after the other to put in his hair. There were times when he would be walking around with 6 -8 in his hair at once. Diamond and I thought he looked rather cute. Z, on the other hand, about came unglued. I mean, here is his SON, his namesake, his “lil man” walking around with 6 ponytails in his hair. So, I had to start hiding the bucket in order to calm Z’s fear that I would turn his child into a pansy and Z bought him a set of golf clubs to try and “re-masculate” him.

About the time I took the ponytail holders away, Diva started to cheer competitively. So, she would be at home practicing her cheers and stunts and he would watch. Before long, he was trying to mimic his sister. He almost broke his neck once when she was learning to do a back handspring. It was so cute to watch him try and do what Diva did and Diamond would encourage him to try while Diva “spotted” him. Z bought him a football and a bat.

He discovered outside this year so he’s lost interest in Cheerleading but there was an addition to the house this year which leads me to the BEST part. Cranky was born about a month ago and Diamond is nursing him. As some of you well know, nursing mothers are able to pump additional milk in order to allow others to participate in feeding the baby. Diamond has started this ritual in the evenings so that Z can help with the middle of the night feedings. Sparky thinks that the pump is the coolest thing. Last night I was over there for a bit and Diamond was getting all of her “components” ready for her nightly session. I looked over and Sparky had his shirt pulled up, tucked under his chin and was desperately trying to attach the pump to his chest. I almost wet my pants! I have no idea what Z can buy for this one short of a Monster Truck or machine gun.

So, when he grows up and is employed by some professional sports franchise, I will be sitting up there in the stands, wearing my “Sparky’s Aunt” shirt, holding up my signs, cheering at the top of my lungs and punching the guy next to me saying, “You see that boy over there with the ponytails and pom poms – that’s MY nephew”!