Uncle Jamey and Baby William

Recently on this blog, I claimed that I was having a baby. Then, in a HUGE twist that absolutely no one saw coming, I revealed that the baby was, actually, my board game on Kickstarter.

In truth, though, while I was launching the Kickstarter campaign, two very dear friends were preparing to have a real, live, human baby. My best friend Trev and his wife, Laura, were pregnant with their first child.

I’ve known Trevor for 28 years, ever since we ran around the playground in preschool and group-peed on trees. I’ve known him as a friend for those 28 years.

A few years ago he got married, and I got to see Trev not just as a friend, but as a husband to his lovely wife, Laura. It’s been really neat to see him take that step.

Trev and Will

As of 3:44 yesterday afternoon, Trevor became something else: a father.

I had the honor and the pleasure of visiting Trev, Laura, and their new baby, William Parker, in the hospital today. He’s a little guy–born almost a month early, he weighs just over 5 pounds and can’t read or write. He was in this special open-air chamber that keeps him warm. Apparently it’s a place for a baby to feel safe and secure, and it kind of blocks out the world so they can focus on growing and staying healthy. When the nurse compared it to how adults just want to snuggle up in bed when they’re feeling sick, and I asked her if I could get an adult version of the baby bed for when I get migraines.

As I’ve noted in other posts, I don’t know if I’ll ever be a father. Sometime around last year I realized that women who didn’t want kids on online dating sites were becoming more attractive to me than women who wanted kids. So who knows what will happen there.

But I’m elated to be an uncle.

I can’t wait to watch William grow up, especially those first few years when he goes from ubiquitous baby to boy. I can’t wait to to hear him start to talk, and I look forward to talking to him like a person, not a little kid. I look forward to sharing books with him, and maybe taking him to the movies when he’s still at that age when every movie seems like a miracle. I can’t wait to kick the soccer ball around with him and Trev, and to see which sports and activities he becomes passionate about. I can’t wait to see him call Laura and Trev “Mom and Dad.” I can’t wait to give him full-size candy bars when the other kids are getting the fun size. I can’t wait to babysit for him so that Trev and Laura can continue to nurture their relationship as a couple. I can’t wait for the barbecues and the birthdays. I can’t wait to see William interact with animals–with Trev and Laura’s dog, Miller, and with my two cats, Biddy and Walter. I can’t wait to hear about what he’s learning in school, if not just to remember that time before we thought we know everything, that time when we knew so little and craved more, more, more. I can’t wait for the high fives and the fist bumps, for that first time when he does something better than us adults have ever done. I can’t wait to play board games with him, to see his little mind churn. I can’t wait for him to take my best friend’s hand when he needs to cross the street–I can’t wait to see Trev grow as a father. And I can’t wait for little William to call me Uncle Jamey, to think of me as part of his family, just as I consider him part of mine.

Trev and Laura, I am so excited for what awaits you. I wish you all the happiness and health in the world as you take this next step. You two are going to be amazing parents.