Baby Gus

Things I'll want to do when my new niece--lovingly dubbed "Baby Gus" by her parents until a better one is revealed--due in August, gets of age (or, stuff I enjoyed doing when my girls were little):

Plug in the electric guitar and set the amp to full effects, connect the whammy bar, turn it up, and let her rip.
Legos. And leave them out while we do something else, and come back to them.
Lay in the hammock and read all sorts of books to her.
Take her to a baseball game here, where we can load up a cooler with popsicles and other junk.
Watch Sesame Street.
Take her to whatever Pixar release is big at the time...and let her watch various similar DVD's we've accumulated over the years.
Set up an easel in the kitchen and load her down with watercolors, and put the results on the refrigerator with magnets.
Put her in some sort of tutu and turn the music on in the studio and let her watch herself in the mirror.
Sing the SpongeBob Squarepants song at full voice.
Drink chocolate milk & eat donuts at Krispy Kreme very early on Saturday.
Take her to the batting cages and play catch with her, too.
Get one of those bubble machines and let her chase bubbles on a slightly windy day.
Make shampoo mohawks and bubble beards during bath time.
Sidewalk chalk all over my driveway.
Pretend to be asleep on the couch when someone comes into the room who knows we're not really sleeping.
Take the dog for a walk around the block and let her hold the leash.
Tell bedtime stories where she gives me the first line and I have to finish it.
Chase them with the smallest amount of provocation (we had a rule that if I saw their belly-button I had to get it, so they'd come into a room, lift their shirt just above their navel, and I'd run at full throttle and they'd scream at top volume).
Stick socks to her right out of the dryer when they're full of static.
Let her pick the clothes she wants to wear that day, and let the results stand, no matter what they are and where we're going.
Ask her what the "high" of her day was during dinner, and listen to her tell me 5 things...and then say there weren't any "lows."
Take a family photo and let her wear the crown anyway.
Let her heat up marshmallows in the fireplace using a wire hanger.
Play Chutes 'N Ladders, Candyland and Hi Ho Cherry-O...and teach her to cheat so she beats her parents.
Teach her to sing the Auburn fight song...using the real words, not the polite ones.

So, Jilly and Shane, I'm just saying that somewhere along the lines of 2011 as my nest begins to empty, you'll need to be planning a two week trip somewhere. I think that should be enough time...as you can see, me and Gus have stuff to get done. Sure, I'll enjoy the earlier bonding moments and the later-on stuff like Ramones/Pistols 101 and helping her pick out tattoo #1 and driving around the church parking lot when she's only 13--those are pretty good, too--but we've got to get this particular time slot reserved NOW.