Fighting Off the Baby Blues

"It'll be fine, don't worry about it, you guys will get along without me ..."  I've been reassuring my sister with these lines, repeating them over and over for the last two weeks or so.

Let me back up for a minute.  About four and a half months ago, my sister Lauren had her first baby.  His name is Layne Robert Futoshi Manuel - LJ for short.  Everyone absolutely adores him - he is, of course, the first grandchild and great grandchild in our family.  Not to mention he is a cutie patootie!  Lauren and her husband (my awesome brother-in-law, who has been in this family for just about a year, but it seems like he's been around forever) Leabert had to go back to work at the end of May.  Since I am still living the life of a student and wouldn't have time to find a part-time job this summer, Lauren asked me to stay with them on the Big Island to watch LJ.  I agreed, of course!  I wouldn't be able to pass up the opportunity to get to know LJ better ... and become his favorite aunty.


Some things you should know about me and babies:

• they used to freak me out because they seem so fragile
• LJ's diaper was the first I've ever changed
• I didn't know a thing about babies when I arrived on the Big Island
• LJ was the first baby I've ever carried

It's not that I don't like babies -- there were never really any around when I was growing up. 

As I explained in the earlier post, this whole summer is full of experiences.  I think that watching over LJ for five weeks will be one that I never forget.  I've learned so much from this little guy:

• the sound of a baby laughing is enough to bring tears to my eyes
• how to do multiple things one-handed (with baby in the other arm)
• how to change a diaper, put on a onesie, burp a baby, clean up spit-up
• I've also memorized the whole "Your Baby Can Read" starter DVD

All of this plus more.  The past weeks with LJ has been Baby 101.

Yesterday was his first day at the sitters.  My sister and I dropped him off and held back tears on the ride to her working place.  They grow up so fast, and I can't believe how much he's developed in a very short time.  Thinking back, he's had so many firsts since I've been here:

• first time being constipated
• first time sitting up on his own
• first time rolling over
• first time eating real food
• first fall
• first time he pulled hair

I get sad thinking about all of the firsts I'm going to miss.  Life is already boring without him.  I'm sitting here on my last day on the Big Island (there's time because he's at the sitters) thinking that maybe I shouldn't be the one reassuring my sister that they'll be okay - I might be the one that needs reassuring that I'm going to be okay without him.  I mean, it's not that easy saying goodbye to this face.

Thankfully, this little guy is only an island away - although inter-island plane fare in Hawai'i is a robbery. 

Not to mention, I have so much more to look forward to this summer.  Will blog about it very soon.  Until then, I'll be fighting off my baby blues.