Grandkids

There are 10 grandchildren on my mother's side of the family.  Interestingly, with one exception we were born in the birth order of our parents.

Aunt M is the oldest.  She had the first four grandkids-three boys and a girl, though I don't remember if the girl or one of the boys is the youngest.  Next in line is Aunt G.  She is mom to the fifth and sixth grandchildren, both girls.  Then there is my mom who, of course, is responsible for my brother and I.  Finally, there is Uncle M, who has a daughter.  Aunt G had the final grandson-a surprise when her girls were already old enough to babysit him when he was born.  (It's also interesting that if you reverse their birth order, that's how many kids they have.  Have I mentioned I'm a numbers person?)

Uncle M's daughter, who in my eyes is still a little girl but in realty is 28, just had a baby girl of her own.  I think she's too young, but that's because last time I saw her she was just a toddler.  I was thinking about this last night and it dawned on me that other than Aunt G's youngest, I am the only grandchild that does not have a child of my own.

I don't know how many kids Aunt M's boys have, but I know they all have at least one.  Her daughter is 12 years older than I am so the first two boys are definitely a lot older than me.  And my girl cousin on this branch not only has three children, she's now a grandma herself.  (And looks amazingly like Aunt M!)

One of Aunt G's daughters has two kids-a son and a daughter, who was adopted from China.  The other daughter has three-two boys and a daughter adopted from China.  Aunt G's daughters are very close and the second one adopted so the first one's daughter would have a cousin that was "just like her."  At least that's my mother's version. 

My brother has two sons.  And now my baby girl cousin is a mommy too.  That just leaves Grandchild #10 and I.  He is only 24.  (In his pictures on Facebook, he looks about 12.  He's a cute kid.  I'd really like to know who he, the younger of his two sisters and my brother all got their curly hair from.  Come to think of it, I vaguely remember one of Aunt M's older boys as having curly hair too.  The rest of us have stick straight hair.  Hmm...sounds like a genealogy question).  I suspect it won't be long before Mom tells me he has gotten married and not too long after that when she tells me Aunt G is going to be a grandma again.
 
My mother has told me I was the only child her father ever liked.  He died when I was a year old, so who knows if this is true. I know it's irrational but I can't help but feel that by not carrying on the bloodline, I have let him-and my grandmother-down.