I’m an Uncle again!
On Tuesday, my sister gave birth to her second child. A beautiful baby girl they named Olivia. Beautiful because she’s healthy. Baby because she’s newly born this week. And girl because she’s not a boy. That’s all there really is to say about birth. I mean, she’s hardly even a person yet. It’s almost easier to talk about her as an it rather than this person named Olivia. People tell jokes, use money, and piss you off for having bad breath. But this thing (my neice) is just sort of a bunch of cells that aren’t quite done cooking yet.
Personally, newborns make me nervous. They’re so fragile looking I’m sure I’m gonna break them. And they look like they’re gonna stop moving or taking breaths at any moment (My cell phone looks more reliable than a newborn breathing.) They freak me out. And they don’t do anything but make you nervous. Well, they are cute. And mesmerizing. Y’know, to think we all started like that. It was my other sister’s birthday when Olivia was born so that’s good luck. She called me up and told me how cute Olivia was (I actually didn’t get to meet her til Thursday (I had a virus)). Sure enough, she was cute, yes. But I’ve realized that I kinda think if you’ve seen one newborn, you’ve seen them all. After meeting my first niece and nephew, they all have the same act. Same schtick. Call me when they’re less intimidating and I can pick them up. Until then, they’re like a glob of cells.
Look at this picture I put together above. Do any of these kids look very different? Are they all brothers and sisters? Can you even tell the boys from the girls? The only time newborns look different is when they’re ugly babies. And we all know when that happens because you think to yourself ‘oh, the baby’s sorta ugly’ (see baby on the top right).
This is not to say I don’t appreciate life. I saw The Matrix and I know how precious we can be. I spoke to Neil the other day about the birthgiving process and he was telling me about how slippery a newborn is (Neil’s a doctor). When he was in med school, he had to catch a spanish lady’s baby while he crapped himself. The juices got all over him and the smell was unbearable. But the creature is such a miracle, moving around, with all this potential. It’s us. The whole thing. It’s so disgusting, so beautiful, I guess it’s the only place a new life can come from.
Such is life. I’ll keep you all posted on how we screw up the child in the raising process. But until then…
Happy Birthday Olivia!
