Cousins

I had a lot of things to be excited about with my little bundle of joy, but one of the things I looked forward to most was Jude meeting his cousins pictured above. That's Ronnie and Jillian, my sister Amanda's children. They live in Milwaukee, WI and manage to get down to Mississippi a few times a year. They're not twins in the sense that they simultaneously resided in Amanda's womb, but instead we'll call them "Irish twins" since they came one right after the other. In fact, Amanda even pointed out that she started out a school year pregnant with Ronnie and ended that same school year pregnant with Jillian. She really wasn't kidding when she said she loved labor and delivery.

Anyway, those two provided me with much entertainment my first week home with Jude. We played bowling, watched "Calliou" (if you haven't seen the show, the best way I can describe it is Pink Floyd music put into a storyline/cartoon. Basically what I'm saying is, that writer must smoke a pound of weed every hour on the hour in order to create each episode!), chased the Weezy cat (she's not the same anymore), and of course, played with Baby Jude!

These two fell in love with their new little cousin immediately. Actually, Jillian went right up to him and patted his head. Ronnie was a little apprehensive at first but once he decided Jude wouldn't bite, he looked at me and said, "I want to pet her." I guess I should give the back story to that.

Two days before, when Ronnie and Jillian arrived to my house, we all tried to shower them with hugs, kisses, and presents. Ronnie could've cared less; he just wanted to find Weezy-cat. That kid must have some kind of awesome memory because the last time he saw my cat, he wasn't even two yet; that was over a year ago! Anyway, he kept asking, "Where is he? Where did he go," so I explained to him that Weezy was a she. Anyway, I guess he thought since Jude was also mine, then he must be a she who needed to be petted too!

Anyway, it was sweet to see the cousins all getting along during the week. Ronnie and Jillian especially loved rocking Jude in his swing, but the real treat came toward the end of their stay when they got to hold him!

Jude is definitely calmer around them than Weezy was. You've probably noticed there are no pictures of Weezy with the kids. That's because she stayed the hell away. Maybe Jude would've done the same thing, but being only a few days old, where was he going to go?

I definitely had a hard time seeing these two off to Wisconsin. They provided me with a lot of insight of what's to come in the next year or two. All I can say is I better hit the gym now so I can keep up!

Now that Ronnie and Jillian are back in Wisconsin, they still talk about Jude. Whenever I call up there, Ronnie always wants to talk to Baby Jude (he also wants to talk to Weezy-cat; I do a pretty good "Meow" over the phone, but I need to step up my baby-speak). Amanda can't keep Jude's birth announcement on the refrigerator because Jillian keeps walking around the house with it and saying "Baby Dude" over and over again.

It really stinks that Wisconsin and Mississippi aren't any closer than they are. Regardless, I see these cousins being the very best of friends. I look forward to the adventures they'll have, but I'm also a tad bit scared of what they'll get into.

Ronnie and Jillian will be back Labor Day weekend for Jude's Christening. Also that weekend, Jude will get to meet his other cousins, my sister's stepchildren who are also quite fabulous themselves, Payton and Trey!