My niece Hanniah (age 4) gave me a huge compliment this weekend. She told me on Sunday that she wanted to be a wonderful Aunt like me when she grows up. This was after she told me that the Smurfs were lame in comparison to the 3D-CGI produced Backyardigans of her generation. This was after she initiated me into an ongoing game of fart tag that my sister’s family has been playing for months. This was after her sister Mackensie (age 3) told me that applesauce is to be served warm not chilled and that real band-aids have characters printed on them. This was after she blew her nose on my boobs after Hanniah accidentally knocked her down and I was trying to stop the tears. This was after thanking me for buying her a matching big girl car seat just like her sister’s seat in our vehicle. No more baby car seat for this 3 year old! This was after they managed to get more Play-Doh on my carpet than into their creations. This was after we sang along to toddler songs and Hanniah dropped the “Jesus Christ” into the conversation which caused Uncle Pete to go into convulsions. I told her Uncle Pete was Episcopal or “Catholic Lite” and that she should be glad that her Pentecostal Great-Grandmother wasn’t around. This was after a trip to the playground, a walk through the woods, and dinner at Bertucci’s. They loved the bathroom so much at Bertucci’s that I got to see it twice. This was after yelling at their Uncle Pete to give them control of their automatic windows while driving around town and racing him up and down the stairs. This was after we called everyone we knew using speaker phone cause nothing says I love you like two little girls screaming it at you at the top of their lungs. This was after Mackensie spotted her third Dunkin Donuts and mentioned that we had passed without stopping. This was after telling me that I needed to join their “Broccoli-loving faction” and that my “Green Pepper-loving faction” was disgusting. This was after informing me that they make popcorn that you can cook in the microwave versus the air popper. This was after Hanniah woke me up at 5:30am. Yes, I said am. Apparently sunrises are amazing and the shades of pink and orange in the sky are so brilliant they make little girls wake up their sleep deprived aunts to share in the experience. I now understand why parents need coffee. This was after Mackensie told me that I was funny and that she loved me. This was after an amazing weekend with two little girls that make my world a much better place.