i never thought of myself as a baby person.

not that i dislike them, just that i don't need to see or cuddle or visit them even if they are around. i have seven siblings and when i was growing up, if i had a choice between baby and chores, i always picked chores; my sister amy picked the baby. if i care about you, i care about your baby because it is something you care about, not necessarily for its own sake.

so, while it is true that i thought it would be great fun to be an aunt, and i did want to visit my sister and see my niece, i really thought the fun of being an aunt would begin once the baby was older.

imagine my surprise to discover that when the baby is baby savannah, i adore babies! oh my goodness. i love that little girl so much i can hardly stand it. i sniffled most of the way home because i was so sad that i had to leave her. (i spent the time when i wasn't sniffling thinking of ways that i can visit. often.)

even more surprising (to me), i am exceptionally good with babies. i am rather like a baby whisperer. at least i am with baby savannah.

also, i am a fount of fantastical stories, though this was not a surprise. among a million other stories, savannah heard the story of the invention of organization (a woman named betty organization who took everything in her house and put it in boxes and labeled them and then her friend myrtle saw it and asked her to do the same thing in her house and then other people saw it and asked for it and then myrtle told her she should name this thing she did and so she used her own name and named it organization) and the story of her ancestor queen savannah (queen savannah rode her pony named mustard around the island of molasses every morning and decreed that all the little girls on the island would be princesses and people came from all over the world to see the herd of princesses on ponies following queen savannah and mustard around the island and they even ended up as a feature article in national geographic next to an article about the mologai tribe who wore bracelets around their neck to make them longer). i am going to record stories for her so she can listen to them even when i am not there in person.

so yes, i am home, and i am really missing my little savannah. being her auntie is just about the best thing ever.