Sabrina

There are no babies in my family.
It's all girls in the third generation and no one's married yet.
Unlike Bill, who grew up around babies, I never held a baby in my arms.

Brian and Kitty are the first of my friends in Taiwan to have a baby. The first time I saw Sabrina she was only a few days old. In fact, when I got to the hospital, I only saw Kitty lying on her side in bed. If they hadn't pointed out where the baby was, I wouldn't have ever noticed the baby next to her. It blew me away watching how at ease Kitty's mom was with the baby in her arm. But when she asked if I'd like to hold Sabrina, I was terrified. Wrapped in a blanket, she looked so small and soft. I was afraid I might break her, so I told Kitty's mom I'd better not 'cause my hands were dirty. Of course, like all moms do, she knew I was afraid. Yet, like all moms do, she understood.

Last Sunday Brian and Kitty wanted to have pictures taken with their 5-month-old Sabrina, so Bill and I volunteered to be photographers.


Bill was a trooper!
He was suffering from a headache, but he still came out for the walk with us.




I don't know much about babies, so I was fascinated by practically everything Sabrina did. I hovered around Brian and watched Sabrina like a cat by the fish bowl. Bill, on the other hand, treated the baby more like just another person who came for the walk with us. He was mostly engaged in a conversation with Brian and occasionally, when Sabrina stared at him, he looked at her and said things like, "The sun's nice, huh?" or "Why do adults talk so much?"

If I may pose as a baby expert and offer my analysis on Sabrina's personality. I'd say she's a very calm baby: just taking everything in with a "zen" look on her face (I'm sure she got it from her mild-tempered mom). She loves music! She could be chilling on your lap one minute and immediately hums along as soon as you start singing. She really likes dancing, too. Her little feet just won't settle down as she hums a tune. It's hardly a surprise, really. I mean, her dad is a fantastic guitar player. The girl's got music in her genes.


(from left to right)
Kitty, Sabrina, and Brian Kleinsmith




Almost everybody stopped to look at Sabrina when they walked by. Brian joked about how his students once told him that they also wanted to have "half" (mixed) babies because they think mixed babies are beautiful.

Like father like daughter? : )
It was right after we discovered how much Sabrina dislikes curry when Brian jokingly offered his beer to his daughter. Well, she really wanted to taste it. I think she's gotta wait a while until she can actually taste it.




Sabrina and Kate singing and dancing to "YMCA".





Well, I think I made Brian nervous when I was holding Sabrina but I'm not afraid to hold a baby anymore. It was a lot of fun playing with her. Though I never imagined a 5-month-old could be actually quite heavy! I did work up a sweat and my arms were sore for two days afterward.

It was well worth it!