Our Little Nephew

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Adam and I officially became 'Aunt Miranda and Uncle Ham' when Maria and Luke proudly announced the birth of their first son, little Liam, at the end of January this year. I was at work in Belfast when the call came through to me that the little one had at last arrived, and I spent a good while jumping up and down in the paediatric treatment room whooping with joy whilst co-workers looked on with a mixture of concern and curiosity. Half a world away no doubt the new Aunt Kyrie and Grandma and Grandpa Odell were doing a happy dance of their very own, not to mention all of Maria and Luke's family and friends near and far. Yet, in the months since this momentous day, all Adam and I have been able to do is 'ooh and ahh' at the wonderful photos Luke and Maria have regularly been sending through, imagining the joy they must be feeling as they shared those first few days, weeks and months of their little son's life. It is with huge anticipation we've eagerly awaited the day when we would meet this little Swedish-Aussie baby.

It was with absolute joy then that we watched the new little family walking towards us as they met our train arriving into Uppsala. Luke and Maria were absoluetly glowing with the hugest grins on their faces as they introduced us to their lovely little Liam, who was fast asleep in a gorgeous old fashioned pram, complete with a little quilt made by Maria's mum to keep the little one snug. We had to resist the immediate urge to dive in and pick up the sleeping boy, contenting ourselves at getting to glance down and touch 'junior's' cheek and ooh and ahh in muted tones to avoid waking him. Looking down at him, I vividly remembered the moment Maria had told us the news that they were expecting and now, here he was at last, the little bump that we spent so much time talking to, and about, most especially over the Christmas period...safely here with us at last.

From that first moment onwards, to say we were totally smitten, is the understatement of the year. Strolling back home to Luke and Maria's we caught up on their tales of life with the little junior and promptly upon arriving back, Liam awoke and we had our very first cuddles with our tiny nephew. That he is the spitting image of his father is irrefutable...holding him I could imagine this was exactly what Luke must have looked like as an infant. To touch his ten little fingers and toes and see his little eyes move around in wonder as he took in the world was magic. Likewise, watching the new parents tend to his every need with so much love and joy was amazing. I cannot imagine we could ever see any two people happier to be parents than Maria and Luke. It was beautiful to simply watch this little family in motion.

And so we spent a lovely long weekend squeezing in as many cuddles as we could in between bath time and feeding time and nap time and play time. We laughed as Liam seemed to dance and wiggle about when 'Waltzing Matilda' was played, held our breath when he cried his little heart out for short bursts without seeming to know why, and sighed as we watched him struggle to keep his eyes open as he drifted off to sleep. It is with certainty we can say that he really is the loveliest little one. He smiles and babbles and is fascinated with his little world. It is impossible for us to imagine anyone could possibly have a little nephew as lovely as he is (no bias of course!)

After so much anticipation, the weekend seemed to fly by. Before we knew it, we were waving goodbye to our family and heading back to the train station for the journey home. Almost immediately after leaving Luke and Maria, we missed them both as we have so many times before. Nomatter how long we seem to spend together, the time is never enough. With Liam's arrival into the world, this was only heightened. But we boarded our plan with big smiles on our faces, already looking forward to the next time we'll see Luke and Maria, and this little baby who has been born into so much love.

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