Aunt Waguli...

I just wanted to write a short post to say I'M AN AUNT!!! My twin sis Fenris went into labor at 3:30 am yesterday morning and proceeded to fart around 'in labor' (yeah, I know, she'll kill me for making light of it, but what are sisters for?) until 2:08 this morning, June 17th when my niece, code name Walelu, was born. Mom and baby are both healthy and happy and more than ready to be two people rather than one. Walelu, which is Cherokee for 'hummingbird' was 7 lbs and 1/2 and ounce, and 20 3/4 inches long. And she arrived right on her due date. Yeah I know, being on time is so cliche these days, but frankly I'm glad the little girl has some commonsense. My best friend, code name Pippi, laughed and said Walelu was definitely NOT type A personality since she was taking her time getting born. Then she changed her mind and decided that the baby WAS type A since she'd managed to take just long enough to make it to her specified due date, but not long enough for trouble. Time will tell.

Which brings me to the title 'Aunt Waguli'. Is that not one of the coolest words you've ever heard? Phonetically it's wah-goo-lee. In Cherokee it means 'whippoorwill'. I've decided that rather than try to say my name (which wouldn't be easy for a baby, hasn't been for all my friends babies) I'm going to be Aunt Waguli. The whippoorwill is my favorite bird ever and a creature dear to my heart. And one just happened to be calling when I went out the door so early in the wee hours yesterday on my way to the hospital. I also came face to face with a barred owl as I drove. It swooped from an embankment and across my windshield, close enough that I can tell you it was a female by the coloring. When I got to the hospital Fenris was all excited because, - yes this really happened - she and her hubby Chucky Duck had a big barred owl cross their path on their way into town, and owls are Fen's totem animal. Now, some cultures and many myths revolve around owls ferrying the souls of people between the different realms and I've heard whippoorwills referred to as harbingers of death, soul eaters even. But considering my family's history of interacting with the dead (funeral directors etc.) we look at owls and whippoorwills as good omens, even if they do normally deal in traveling souls.





But I digress. The point is that I am now Aunt Waguli (say it over and over really fast, it's ridiculously fun) and baby Walelu is officially a member of the family!!! Well, a member we can now hug and spoil, rather than talk to through Morse code via Fenris's stomach. I've added a picture of Fenris not long after delivery (looks good for twenty-two hours of heaving) and one of me and Walelu taken at some ungodly hour this morning when more sensible creatures were either retreating into the shadows or venturing towards the morning sun. And yeah, the kid on the left (my right) is mine... that's the sort of baby I'm used to...