Sunday Snapshot: Twins!

At the end of the week, I had the great privilege of visiting my friend and colleague Jasmine and her three week old twin boys.  I met Jasmine my first year teaching at the university, and we became good friends over bi-weekly hot pot dinners.  We had a set menu at our favorite joint, and we talked about everything from teaching, to culture, to the more serious affairs of life over steaming pots of veggies and meat.  In the past 10 months, Jasmine got married, moved to the nearby big city, got pregnant, started a PhD program, found out she was having twins, finished her first semester of her PhD program, and gave birth to two precious little boys.  Talk about major life changes!

There are many traditional beliefs and practices in China associated with childbirth.  Some are rarely practiced today, but others are quite rigidly adhered to.  One of the more common practices is keeping the mother at home for the first month.  Jasmine has yet to go outside since returning from the hospital, and is under the careful watch of her mother and aunt.

Something tells me Jasmine doesn’t mind too much.  The sacrifices her aunt and mom make to help out in anyway they can are truly beautiful.  The even more phenomenal fact is that I doubt they even view this service as a sacrifice.  The few hours I got to spend in their house was a stunning glimpse into the familial love in China.

The older brother of the twins is Jing Bo.

Despite the fact that he is a mere minute older, in Chinese culture, the distinction is quite important.  The very first thing Jasmine told me when I first walked into the room–before she even gave me the twins’ names–was which one was the elder brother.  There are two words for brother in Chinese–one to describe “older brother” and one to describe “younger brother”.

The older brother was awake almost the entire time I was over.  Apparently that’s the longest stretch he’s ever stayed awake.  Grandma said it’s because he was so excited to meet his American aunt.  The excitement was clearly written all over his face.

The younger brother, Jing Ran, slept the entire time.

He clearly was not impressed by his American aunt–even when his brother tried to get his attention.

The Chinese are usually quite paranoid of catching a cold, especially when it comes to babies, so I was quite shocked when they unwrapped Jing Bo so I could get a picture of his cute little toes.

Jasmine has assigned me the great privilege of giving the boys their English names.  Now that I’ve met them and heard more about their little personalities, I feel a little more equipped for the task.  I’ll let you know what I decide!