cousins

Growing up, Richard had a lot of cousins that were right around his age.  They had lots of fun at family reunions, and he even lived close to a couple for some time.  Even today, when the family gets together, they seem to congregate and the good times start rolling right where they left off.

I only had two cousins who were close to my age.  They were both boys, and although I saw one and we were pretty good friends, it never felt like I had "cousin friends" like Richard did.

Marty seems to be pretty lucky in the cousin department.  The ones who we see most often, Shay and Kody, are 4-6 years older than he is, but they are the best of the best.  They love playing with him, they look out for him, and they are super nice - always asking me if they can do something before they do it, and never hesitating to let me know if he has a stinky diaper.  All around helpful, and I love it.  So does he.

The other cousins that Marty has, on Richard's side, are just as great.  Mary is only a couple months older than he is, and Eli is just super fun.  He also thinks that Marty is a "cool guy."  I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual.  For Eli's birthday, he asked Scott and Megan if he could go to the zoo with Marty.  I about died when they told me because I thought that was so cute!  We were excited to celebrate that fun day with them, and we loved seeing those cute kiddos enjoy each other's company.

Believe it or not, Marty even talks about "the cousins" out of the blue sometimes.  I think he just has really positive associations with all of them, and so he knows that when they are around he is going to have a good time and be happy.  Which makes me really happy, too.