Jack and Jett 4-Eva

I am the oldest of five sisters, with only eight years between me and my youngest sister. Almost all of my sisters have at least one cousin who is their age, almost to the exact day. My closest-aged cousin is a year older than I am, and we had very little contact with their family in my formative years. All of this exposition is here to lay out a foundation for the strong assertion that follows:

Jack and my nephew Jett don't live close to each other, and it blows.

Jett is two weeks younger than Jack, but they each have their own strengths that would be great evidence to prove that one or the other is actually the older, more mature one. Jett is a master linguist; he has been speaking so clearly for so long that I take it for granted when he talks to me in complete sentences like an adult. A party trick that was shown off many times during Jett's recent visit to Utah was a recitation of the "A is for apple pie" nursery rhyme -- each letter following A does something to the apple pie, all the way to Z. And Jett can recite it all. Jack is the muscle of the pair, being more physically agile and daring. Jack was crawling before Jett did, and he took advantage of that fact, as seen in exhibit A:

Jack's tactile way of loving Jett has continued to the present time. Jack gave his cousin so many tackling hugs at the beginning of February that it caused Jett to tell his mee-maw (my sister Shelley), "Jacko be gentle. Jacko be careful."

Though the two boys are different, their age also brings them together. Thomas the Tank Engine? Yes, our two-year-olds love him. Hot Wheels? Toddler boys will be boys. The mix of English words and jibber-jabber that only little children understand? They've got it down. Jack thinks Jett is the funniest guy on the planet and spent much of their time together giggling his Chatfield-inherited wheeze.

We are able to keep in touch through webcam, but after seeing the boys play together recently, the computer experience doesn't ring true to how much fun they have face-to-face. If Jack isn't able to pull Jett down the hallway, it isn't the real cousin experience.

So, Shelley, do you want to move to Utah or shall we come down to SoCal?