Tuesday, Mr. Mono's sister, Ivette, and her children, Isabella and Austin, came to see the babies. Its so wonderful that the girls have so many cousins. Isabella and Austin loved taking care of the babies too. Isabella even got Evelyn to burp--which is no small feat. Little Austin loved the girls and wanted to hold them and feed them all the time.

One thing I've noticed is how many boys are interested in babies. Taking the kids to my sister's house, my 12 year old nephew and his friends are always happy to hold and feed the babies. Its funny to see these little skater kids set down their skateboards and ooo and ahh over infants. I was at my sister's the other day and my nephew was having an impromptu pool party. He and another boy his age sat inside with me for a bit and gave the girls a bottle, while the girls at their party walked by, said "cute baby," and then went outside to swim. Granted they only stayed for a bit, there were, afterall, girls in bikinis outside, but the fact that they sat there at all is amazing.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see the time when boys thought babies were for girls is quickly passing and those ridiculous gender roles are fading away. I've heard so many stories from my parents generation of the men "never changing a diaper," or only wanting to do the fun stuff. And several of my friends have talked about their father's lack of participation and its impact on the family. My grandparents generation seemed to be even more divided along gender roles. (of course, this is a general notion and individual families may be different).

I'm not trying to imply that the men my own age prescribe to these notions. On the contrary, the majority of our male friends with children dote over their kids and do their fair share of parenting. Nevertheless, these are their own children and to see a teenage boy with his friends (when being "cool" is so important) dote over someone else's child seems to me to be yet another step in the right direction. So it was nice to see an even younger boy, little Austin, was equally enthralled with our babies and more than willing to help take care of them. Playing with the babies and playing with his Bionicles were equally acceptable fun things to do. cool.

We had a wonderful time with Andre's sister and her family. Her kids are growing so fast, and the thought that our kids will be growing up just as quickly made me a little sad at times. I suppose the only cure is to use each day as wisely as possible and spend lots of time together and enjoy it all.