Yesterday was a particularly meaningful Mother’s Day for me because we held a baby dedication for our daughter Alena. We wanted to share with you our thoughts and reasons for doing this. While there is no scriptural mandate for dedicating a child to God, we see examples of people bringing their babies to Jesus to be blessed (Matt 19:13, Mark 10:13, Luke 18:15a) and Jesus himself was brought to the temple as a young child as part of a Jewish custom (Luke 2:22-24).
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A recent NBC news headline advised, “Secret to marital bliss? Don’t have kids.” While it’s true that the marriage relationship does undergo significant strain in the transition of having a baby, becoming parents can also be an opportunity for growth in a marriage. That’s what happened for us.
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[This is a preview of a guest post I wrote for ESL Marriage]
Before I became a first-time father, I prepared. I took a pre-natal class with my wife, asked other parents what their experience was like, and read numerous blog posts and books about the subject. But even with all that preparation, there were many things about being a new father that surprised and shocked me. No one warned me about these things (or maybe they did and I wasn’t paying attention).
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[This is a preview of a guest post I wrote for SheLoves Magazine]
“Why do you keep thinking you don’t have enough energy?” my husband asked me one night. “You made it through today. You made it through this year of being a new mom. Why do you insist that you’re in deficit?”
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One of the best gifts of becoming a mother is that I have the privilege of watching the process of human development unfold before my eyes. As I’ve observed Allie, I’ve come to (re)learn some basic truths about what it means to be human. As an adult, I find it easy to lose sight of the fundamental qualities of my humanness so I’m grateful that my baby, in her unfiltered and uninhibited way, shows me and reminds me of these things.
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A baby learning to walk is like a small drunk zombie. Allie took her first few steps a week before turning 13 months. It took her about 4 weeks to master the art of walking, and we’ve enjoyed watching her progress. She stumbles around like she is drunk, and walks while stretching her arms out for balance (like a zombie). It’s the cutest thing to watch. Here’s a short video I put together of her progression over the last 4 weeks.
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I love taking Allie out. We get so much attention wherever we go (“we” meaning “she”). Pretty much everyone thinks that she’s cute. But I find that we get the most attention from older ladies.
It’s official. My daughter hates Santa Claus. My cousin-in-law arrived at the family Christmas party dressed up as Santa (partly at my request). At first Allie was curious, and crawled over to see what the fuss was all about. That curiosity quickly turned into fear, as she quickly started crying.
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Our house is full of ducks. For some reason, everyone has gotten Allie a duck. She has two rubber ducks, one I picked up at Walmart and a limited edition duck my mom lined up for in Osaka, Japan. There’s a giant duck my brother won at an amusement park and a small stuffed duck my brother’s girlfriend bought in Singapore. And then she has a duck jacket, a duck finger puppet, a duck shaker, a duck bib and more.
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My dear, lovely Alena,
How have you already yet only been with us for one year? You have come so far since the day you were born. Life with you has been absolutely remarkable. What a privilege and delight to watch you grow, develop and learn! In this twelfth month of your life, you have gained an incredible amount of new skills. Continue Reading…
