Eleven, that was the age I became an aunt. I was just a child myself, not really understanding why my sister had to give birth. I honestly didn't like it, I wasn't the baby of the house anymore, instead I had a young niece that would take the place of favorite child.
The day my oldest niece was born, was a day I would soon come to realize, I would change. The first time I ever held her was in the hospital, so tiny and chunky. It was the first time I learned how important it was to support a child's head, keep them close to your body, hold them with the most care. It changed my life becoming an aunt/tia, in that first year I learned how to change diapers, make bottles, take a baby a bath, clothe them, you name it I learned how to do it. I was an expert by the time I was a teenager. I remember watching Maleah Marie take her first steps, she had a purple shirt and pint pants on. I had never felt such excitement, especially just watching someone walk. It was different, it was beautiful, it was heavenly to watch a child learn how to use their feet.
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Not too long after Maleah Marie was born, came Emily Elizabeth. I thought "oh no, not another child". Now by this time I thought, "Well, I've been doing his for a while, I know how things go." At the same time, I was big wrong and right. The first time I held Emily Elizabeth, I noticed right at first she was a lot smaller than Maleah Marie. So I had to be extra careful with her. Emily was a baby that loved the arms, she definitely taught me how to be patient. I don't know how we do it, but I guess it becomes a sixth sense becoming an aunt. She was a goofy child, always dancing.
Then came Hayley Rose and Elijah Noel, this was hilarious, since boy my sisters were pregnant at the same time. We were always running low on food because of them. By the time these two were born I was close to turning seventeen, Almost six years after my first neice was born. One thing was different though it was the first boy to be born, Elijah Noel is by far the goofiest child I have ever come across, he's always making you laugh one way if not the other. Elijah was a very quiet baby, but he also was very sensitive. He needed extra care and handling, he was easily prone to heat rashes. Hayley on the other hand was just as chill as her sisters Maleah Marie and Emily Eizabeth. All whom are very similar to all of us women in the intermediate family. The resemblance is also weird, when I look at them and I see that I can see myself in them. No doubt it's a good feeling. Then at the age of eighteen my nephew Mario Caleb was born, a child a have a special bond with, he's just a ball of sunshine, and by far the biggest ham I've ever come across. He doesn't understand that I have to go back to school ever summer, spring and winter, and often gets mad at me when I leave, but it's alright he always gets over it.
Last but certainly not least is Alexander Patricio, whom was just born July 28th, as I held him I the hospital I experienced a new feeling. A feeling I hadn't felt, now being twenty-one, almost ten years after my first neice was born, I thought "The day is coming soon, were it's going to be me becoming a mother."
You see, becoming an aunt is by far one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I have learned so much from each child, From babysitting since I was a child, to now babysitting as a young adult, it's different with age. I now appreciate a baby's cry, no matter what it may be for. I have patience and can multitask like many aunts know how to do. I enjoy the little things like feeding the ducks at the park or going to church with them. I was scared he first time I had to change a diaper or was left alone with a child, but I did it. I'm excited that I get to teach my nieces and nephews about God, I get excited when the have questions. I love them and I'd take a bullet for any of them, they've allowed me to see that I have the will inside me to be a mother, which I pray will happen one day, but for now I'll just spoil these little baby's. In many ways I grew up, but I'm ready for the day it happens to me. I'll always be thankful for being blessed with such amazing children around me.
