Lots of little cousins

J. and I have been spending a significant amount of time while Little Guy (henceforth to be known as LG) is gestating thinking about the importance of family. Some of it's the big issues, like the way both of our very different sides of the family support and care for each other or how important grandparents are to both of us. Other things are little moments of familial excitement and pride. We are delighted, for example, that his prospective birth will bring the continuation of our uniquely spelled family name for another generation (being the first male child of this generation with this name). We've been looking at genealogies on both sides trying to figure out which relatives of past generations had first names we'd like to use for LG, which has resulted in lots of sharing of family histories and memories. And, of course, we've been in frequent communication with everybody simply to keep them in the prenatal loop.

One night last week, J. and I spent a few minutes talking about cousins as we were drifting off to sleep. Both of us are blessed to have closely knit extended families, particularly compared to what seems typical in America. For each cousin, we can usually give a brief description of what they are up to (work, college, city they live in). We frequently visit with cousins when visiting their hometowns for vacation or business. J. and I are placed quite differently in the birth order; J. has first cousins both older and younger than him; my twin sister B. and I are the eldest by over ten years. While J. remembers his cousins often as playmates, B. and I remember when each other member of our generation was born, how cute they were as babies, and the follies resulting from our frequent babysitting of them. Regardless, as we get older, the joy that comes from each cousin's happy occasions is something we treasure. Keeping in touch has gotten easier with Facebook, and we have a great time seeing photos and getting updates unmediated by older generations of relatives.

We are very excited that LG is fortunate enough to be born into a family with lots of fun cousins ready to greet him and (in the proper time) with more on the way. We already anticipate trips to Israel to visit with cousin Y. and can't wait to get together with all 4 K. cousins in LA. I can't wait to sit with all our siblings in a few years and see all the little people running around and making new memories of their own.