Hand me that baby.

Today I held a Chinese baby.

I don't know if you know this, but Chinese kids are freaking cute. Even though I work with little kids 5 days a week, I still love seeing these little guys outside of school. I mean, I can only teach English to so many kids, so there are probably DOZENS of other kids that I won't meet in class. A good portion of those kids are just too young to learn another language (because they're super busy learning Chinese), and those tiny ones will really melt your heart.

When we went for lunch today there were a couple kids roaming the restaurant, and I couldn't take it anymore- I just had to hold one of these tykes. I figured that strangers have approached me for pictures enough, it's my turn to approach a mother and demand a photo with her child.

It actually worked out really well; I was able to pull it off without speaking any Chinese. I just did the classic approach: walked up slowly, without making sudden movements as to not make the mother skittish. I held out my hands, palms open towards the baby, and mimed holding him. To seal the deal, I said in English, "Give me your baby." It worked. The baby was mine.

Here's the picture we got. Me and the baby, and a second baby that another mother wanted to be in the picture. I don't know why, but more cute babies... so why not?

Photo by Greg W.