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Published: February 19th 2010
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Feb. 8th, 2:40pm
Born into the new world It was 6:40am in Thailand when I got a message from my mom:
2:40pm Feb 8th Seattle time. She is about 7 pounds. 51 cm. Born in the year of the ox. Her name is Violet.
OH.MY.BUDDHA! I'm an Uncle! I was overwhelemed with joy. I was also shocked because the baby was expected to be born on Feb.14th but I guess she was too excited for life to begin! Maggie and I finished up our adventurous vacation in Phuket and then I spent the next two days travelling to Seattle. During the whole flight, I was trying to imagine what she would look like.
I landed in Seattle and I walked up the steps of my brother's beautiful home. I opened the brown door. And there she was, in the cradle of her grandmother's arm. I dropped all my luggage and my knees almost dropped with them too. My eyes swelled and my smile gleamed as I slowly walked towards her. She was so tiny and fragile. I was nervous when Julie's mom put the baby in my arms to hold her. But there was nothing to fear because she fit perfectly snug in my arms.
I looked at her for the first time and I whispered, "Hey Violet, I'm your uncle and you are beautiful." I felt so proud of her. Her eyes were gently closed and she was sleeping soundly in my arms. She is only 3 days old.
For the next 8 days, I was able to witness the miracle of a developing infant. She used to sleep 90% of the time in the first couple of days but I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of her awake. The first time I saw her open her eyes was the moment that I'll never forget, the moment I realize that this isn't a dream but I really am an uncle. She would open her eyes and see the world for the very first time. Her facial expression was like Whoa,cool...Where am I? Then she would just look all around the room and look at me again. She has no clue what's going on, haha. As each day pass, she becomes more mobile and lively. Whereas Jon and Julie become less mobile and lively because they're up all night tending to the baby,hehe. Props to you awesome parents!
I also witnessed
her learning prowess when it was time for her to drink milk. Her jaw muscles hadn't developed yet so she had to be fed through a unique process. Jon and Julie had some pretty incredible teamwork to make it happen. Jon would hold the baby and put a finger in Violet's mouth. Julie would then slide a small tube into the mouth so the milk goes down her throat. Then Violet had to suck down the milk. She didn't quite get it at first, but once she did, she was slowly sipping the milk. After 2 days, she moved on to drinking milk from the bottle. She was chugging the milk down like a champion! That's living proof that she indeed is a Chang... a hungry foodie. She was so satisfied after her meals that she would lay there and burp every 5 seconds. Pretty cute! She eventually moved on to breast feeding. She's come a long way for milk and I'm quite the proud uncle!
I learned a lot about her but I probably learned more FROM her. There's something very Buddhist and pure about her newborn life that has me reflecting about my own. I realize that
Bath time
wash away that bloody face a lot of Siddartha's teaching has a baby-quality to them because he constantly talked about how we should simplify our state of mind. Opinions and perspectives distort our ability to see things 'as it is'. She can see things as they are and not create a good or bad judgement about them... that's pretty much the highest state of enlightenment. She hasn't created an identity of 'self' yet and so she can't selfishly say 'I' all the time. She's still color-blind for now and that makes her incapable of discriminating people. She has no attachment to her past and can't worry about the future, she's completely living in the now. Man, I've been going on a spiritual journey around the world to attain these qualities and Violet's already got it down on her 3rd day here on Earth! She has taught me more about life than I've taught her, and I'm supposed to be the uncle!
Those 8 days with her were powerful for me and even though she doesn't really know it, we made a strong connection. It was a touching moment when she tightly grabbed on to my finger with one hand and grabbed on to my
Happy daddy
So happy he was about to eat her! face with her other hand. Our baby Violet is a reminder to us that she is nature's miracle and we are all part of nature. Violet is such a wonderful name that pays tribute to Mother Nature for giving us this cute baby. Baby Violet, we love you. One day you'll learn to love back, but until then, enjoy life.
-Uncle Vic
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JC
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Congrats!
Would you rather have an infant mind like a sponge or a mind full of years of wisdom? Which is more simple?