Lest Uncle Nathan feel left out...

I posted a little while ago about how Esther reminds me of my sister, but there are also ways that she reminds me of my brother.

For starters, they are both outdoors types.  My brother loves plants--he has been a green thumb since he was no older than four, and was wielding an adult-sized hoe and cobbling together drip irrigation systems probably before he could read.  I don't know if Esther will turn out to have the love-affair with plants that her "Unca Nafan" does, but she loves being outdoors more than almost anything else, and she does seem to enjoy digging, pruning, watering, and other activities related to caring for plants.  The last time we visited my family at their house, Nathan let her help him plant and water some of his (very large) collection of beloved flora, and she talked about it for months afterwards.  I didn't take any pictures, unfortunately, so instead I'll embarrass him by posting a picture of him doting on a flowering tree (he would know what variety; I have no clue) during a stroll in the botanical gardens.

Esther and Nathan also both have a talent for working with their hands.  They're much more spatial than I am, and are good at figuring out how things work.  While Nathan was visiting, he did a few repairs around the house for us.  Esther was glued to his side, watching every move, using (or pretending to use) every tool that he would let her touch, and doing her very best to convince him that she could be trusted with the electric drill.

And finally, Esther's sense of humor is a lot like Uncle Nathan's (and Great-Grandpa Pack's!).  Nathan has always found perverse delight in getting a rise out of people.  You can imagine what it's like to be big sister to someone like that--the more aggravated I got, the more he was motivated to keep doing exactly what he was doing!  One summer it was making kissing noises like Sebastian the crab and kissing my shoulder; several years it was burping constantly; other years he found other ways to drive me up the wall for his own entertainment.  So I have to confess that my heart sank when I began to detect a familiar spark of glee in Esther's eye as she does something deliberately annoying.  Yesterday she had a playdate.  At one point her friend's mom and I went to investigate shrieks of frustration from the friend and giggles from Esther.  We found Esther's friend yelling, "Stop it!  Stop it!!  She didn't listen to me!!" while Esther, in high good humor, approached to do whatever-it-was (poking him, I think) again.  I have a feeling this is not going to go over well with new big brother.

Anyway, Esther and "Unca Nafan" had a good time together when he was here.  Besides letting her "help" with his carpentry, he let her carry his keys and cell phone around, and jump on him to wake him up in the morning.  He is quite the indulgent uncle, and she is quite the admiring niece!  The day after he left, the first thing she said upon waking up in the morning was, "Is it time to go wake up Unca Nafan?"  I think she did know he was gone, but was just checking to make sure that was still the case.  We don't know when we'll get to see him next, but we're looking forward to it!