There was a posting in BlackPlanet today about whether Paternity testing should be mandatory. As I stare at my newborn daughter, Sabrina, I know it ain’t even necessary. This girl is mine.
On February 2, 2009 at 6:30pm, Sabrina Rose Barrow cried her way into the world. At 8 lbs, 4 oz she is a healthy hunk of baby. I’ve been home on paternity leave (yes, they have that now) and as my boys warned, this little girl has me wrapped around her finger.
As expected, she has my wife’s eyes (they are just too dominant a feature), but from her nose, skin tone and her sleepy pinky toe, she’s all me. I couldn’t deny this kid if I tried. Put away the envelope, Maury. We’re good.
Her temperament is like my own. She’s rather chill, doesn’t cry unless she’s hungry, but when she does? Watch out. I can’t tell if she likes sports or not yet, but she’s been quietly attentive during the midnight editions of “SportsCenter” and “Inside the NFL.”
She’s a lady first and foremost, but has engaged in some rousing games of “pull my finger.”
Like most newborns, she loves her some sleep! The first day she was home my parents came over to see her and I think she opened her eyes once all day. We’re actually getting her on a semi-regular routine where she’ll sleep for a good 5-hour block at night, which anyone who has taken care of newborns knows is fantastic. She wakes up first with a whimper, a sigh, and then the clicking of her tongue looking for food. That click is like the ticking time bomb. Let it go for too long and boom!
Her brother has been her biggest cheerleader. If we so much as joke about her stinky diapers he is fast to her defense – “Don’t talk about my sister!” He wants to hold and feed her all the time and can’t resist peeking in her crib when she’s sleeping. He even thinks her burps are cool.
Probably the coolest thing that’s happened so far is that she laughed. I know you’re thinking newborns can’t smile or laugh but this was in her sleep. She was knocked out on my chest after a bottle and all of a sudden she busted out in the sweetest giggle as if she was in the front row at a Katt Williams show. And just as quickly, she was back to her slumbering pout. She’d never shown that kind of emotion or expression in her waking hours so it made me wonder: what does a child whose whole life has been sleeping, eating, burping and pooping find funny?
Me. Her crazy ass Daddy :)
