Someone that makes me so happy, the smile stays on my face for days

Kids, MGMT. Trust me, you'll know it.

Hey, Hatter - I'm doing it, I'm doing what you told me to, and I'm smiling as I write :)

Meet Leo.

He's a little shy of four months old, and already he's shaping up to be, honestly, the best nephew in the world. His cheeks have a large part to play in that verdict, yes, but they are magnificent. And his chins. 

My sister told us she and her husband were expecting their first baby in February last year and, even though I was hugely excited, nothing in the world could have prepared me for actually meeting him, come mid-September. It all seemed so crazy, all the excitement of the previous months added to the undeniable weirdness of witnessing my sister get bigger along with the endless pregnant-talk, escalating overnight until the crazy bump she'd been lumping around for 9 months was replaced by a tiny, tangible baby and endless baby-talk. I mean, that's a human being. It seemed so weird at the time.

The first time I held him was one of the first times I was really comfortable with a child. It's no secret, that I'm awkward with kids, but it's different with Leo. Mum and I are always in fierce competition whenever they visit us, to see who can scoop him first. Considering she's had way more experience in the baby-snatching department than I have, I'm not too bad. It's all in the technique; grabbing him smoothly enough so that he doesn't complain, and quickly enough so that the person you're stealing him from doesn't complain either. It's an acquired skill.

That's the face I wear pretty much every time I cuddle him. My I am holding a baby face. 

When he was less than a couple of weeks old, my parents and I drove over to visit the wee family and he was so unbelievably tiny. I was curled up on the sofa and he was snuggled into my chest, sleeping, and that's probably the most content I've been. Like, ever. It was in that half hour or so that I realised - I'd do anything in the world for him. Anything at all. The only thing in my world worse than something bad happening to him would be knowing that it happened on my watch - and so I can't ever let that happen. I won't let it happen.

In the very, very unlikely event this begins to get many followers, I'll probably remove this post altogether.

Quote of the Day: The whole of Taylor Swift's Never Grow Up.