I just got to meet my new nephew. Do you know how cool it is to be a first-time uncle? The coolest.

My sister had her son on June 11th, and I was able to get a flight to Atlanta for a week later. When I met him, he was 7 days old. I’ve heard that babies have a smell to them that is so unique, and I can attest to that. I don’t even know how to describe it in words—it’s fresh, it’s lovely, it’s innocent and new.

My nephew is named Samuel James, and he came right at the 40 week mark, fully cooked and healthy and as happy as a newborn can be. While I got to spend a lot of time with him, we did a few things.

We got to play ball with my other “nephew,” Mason. I held Sam while I tossed the ball to the dog. Mason is six, and he’s a bit confused as to what to do with a newborn, but he’s sweet and licks his toes, so I think they will be friends.

We got to read. I bought Sam a bunch of books before he was born, and I introduced him to Curious George this trip. I want him to be a life-long reader. I want him to love the written word as much as I do and to always explore the boundaries of imagination. I supposed that is to be expected from a fiction writer.

I also got to teach Sam how to grade papers. I don’t think he liked it very much, as we graded business writing, but he was getting the hang of it pretty well—that, or he was just quiet and didn’t have any questions because he was asleep.

Anyway, it was a great trip. Meeting a new family member is this magical experience that is hard to put into words. I tried writing a bit about it in my journal, but there was not much to say except to just say how quickly you can love someone.