I think it would be wise to introduce you to my kids, as I will be talking about them quite a bit. I am writing separate posts about each child because I don't like to group them together. They are two different ages, different genders and totally different personalities. There would be no room for them both in the same post.
So let me start by introducing you to my baby girl, JAHYU JAXIN. Yes, she has two first names. One is Korean... the word for "freedom" or "liberty". It's pronounced like this: jah- rhymes with "la" or "ma"; and yu- like the word "you"... Jahyu, very easy. Then her other name is said the same as "Jackson".
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| Jahyu Jaxin (2 mos) |
Many people wonder why we named her Jaxin; whom she was named after, that sort of thing. There really is no glamorous back story behind it. It was a last minute addition. I'd already thought of her entire name by my 9th month of pregnancy... including a three part middle name and a hyphenated last name! Her father mused that Jackson would be a cute name for a boy. We joked that it would be a name wasted should we never have more children. On a whim, I suggested we just toss the name onto the laundry list already in existence. It made sense to attach it to her first name, as this was the only name with ONE part. And being the unconventional person I am, I wanted the spelling changed. So I took off the ending and added XIN... that's how she earned her name. I did like the ring of it, as it reminded me of great people whom I admire, such as Michael and Janet Jackson (musical geniuses), and I thought it would be cute for her to have a name that complimented her paternal grandmother's- "Janet" (get it? Janet and Jaxin= Janet Jackson!) Yeah, I'm a freaking dork like that.
In our household we interchange all her names. We gave her many names so she could choose the one she wanted to go by and not feel stuck with any particular name... something I wish I could have done. I didn't want to name her after a bunch of other people either. In Korean culture, it is considered somewhat unlucky to name a child after another person, especially dead relatives. A name means a lot and if you live your life being called someone else's name, it is thought that you will walk in their shoes... and that may have as many negative outcomes as positive. So Koreans believe in giving each child a fresh beginning by naming them something uniquely their own. It also helps in eliminating confusion when more than one person in the family shares names.
Little Jaxin was born at the end of 2011, on December 30th. I recall hearing the New Year firecrackers sounding in the night sky from my hospital room, days after her birth. Both her father and I were mesmerized by her features... I was surprised to have passed down so much of my mom's Asian looks. Her hair was bone straight. Her skin had a reddish, yellow tint to it. Her fingernails looked perfectly manicured. Her squinty eyes were tiny almonds. The color of her eyes were actually very light brown, which later turned gray and then finally settled to a chestnut hue. And, there was that tell-tale "Mongolian Mark" taking up a massive amount of space on her rump, something my first child, my sister and I had as infants.
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| Jahyu Jaxin (approx. 15 mos) 25% Korean/75% Black |
She was my dream baby. I originally planned to name her Sowunn, the Korean word for "Wish". I had dreamed of being a mother to a little girl ever since I was aware of what a mother was. I am a doll fanatic and I imagined collecting a variety of beautiful heirloom dolls to leave behind for my sweet daughter to play with and enjoy some day. But when I had my first child at 20 by way of a traumatic C-section, it killed all hope of having any more kids, let alone a girl. It didn't seem worth trying because I was only 50% guaranteed a female while 90% guaranteed another scary C-section.
Thankfully, it didn't turn out that way. And God answered my prayers to let the baby in my belly be a little girl... I would have been satisfied with just that, but I was doubly blessed with a gorgeous girl!
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| Kimora Lee's daughters with Russell Simmons Aoki Lee and Ming Lee (both 25% Korean) |
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| Blasian Mom KIMORA LEE with actor hubby and quarter Korean kids. |
I want her to tap into every part of her being and learn to express herself as freely as the meaning of her name. And I see the beginnings of this in her personality now... though only a year old, she is so independent and assertive. She cannot speak yet but says so much through her actions and gestures. It is amazing how much potential these little ones possess at an early age and how much of that is stifled and suppressed by the time they reach adulthood. I do not want that for her. I truly believe that through honesty, affection, encouragement and an open mind... I can help her to realize her full potential by the time she is in her late teens. Most importantly, I want her to have a real sense of pride in being a multi cultural individual, blessed with the ability to relate to more than one group of people. I am determined to instill that in her. And I know I will.
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