Diaper Pontifications

The ammo dump... no pun intended

Mercy is definitely growing up.  We go to the pediatrician again soon. I'm anxious to find out weight and length.  She is at least 10 pounds and 22 inches now and getting chubby as you can see. May I offer two pontifications.  Maybe God lets babies cry a lot to build up your prayer life. Second, maybe our minds are created to remember the good times more than the bad so we're willing to at least consider doing it all over again.

Monkey Kung Fu

Tomorrow marks seven weeks for Mercy. Its amazing how quickly things change as she grows. There are certain things you do to soothe her that seem to work consistently but only for a few days and then you have to come up with something else.  For instance, I used the Monkey Kung Fu Lullaby for a while but I think she is over it. It goes like this:

My little baby knows monkey kung fu, monkey kung fu, monkey kung fu

My little baby knows monkey kung fu, ee ee ah ah oo oo

I say ee, you say ah, I say oo like a monkey would do

You say ee, I say ah, you say oo like a monkey would do

The key when singing the song is time it so that the baby cries "ah" at the right times. There's a second verse I won't bore you with about what to do if the monkey knows baby kung fu. 

She is definitely sleeping longer at night and so we are too.  She spit up on me last night enough to soil the shirt I had just put on from one armpit to the other.  That's okay though, I didn't really want to wear that particular shirt anyways. She's really been stepping up her cute time when she's awake and had a bath today without soiling the water.  She has been smiling a lot more and making some funny noises like the one where she inhales but with a giant wheeze. Stay tuned.

Get Down Mercy

Nick's Electro

We interrupt this blog about baby Mercy to show you evidence of major sleep deprivation. Earlier today I was checking the fuse box in the car for a blown fuse for the horn.  As I looked down the list of fuses (see above) I came upon:

ELECTRO-

NICS (B)

I read to myself "electro" and then "n-i-c-s" and then I said aloud "electro-nicks" that is like the name nick.  It took me about a full minute to remember the elementary school composition lesson that when you don't have room to finish a word you can put a hyphen and continue on the next line.  I'm a real genius. What makes it even more ridiculous is that my lunch conversation was all about divine command theory, Plato's heaven and whether or not the Euthyphro dilemma cast any real difficulty on DCT. I guess the brain cells come and go during the day.

Another Sunday

5 weeks and all is well. Mercy is getting into a better routine these days with the occasional difficult night. I couldn't help but try and imagine what sort of Jetsons like world our daughter will be living in later in life and then  I realized... I'll be living in it too. Nonetheless, today's message at church was about parenting well through the power of the Holy Spirit which made me want to do my best to give Mercy all the tools she needs to thrive on this earth. Just some musings.  Happy Mother's Day.

Namesake

In commemoration of Mercy's first month amongst us, I thought it would be poignant to explain the name Mercy Elizabeth.

Mercy is a type of compassion. Having a child is an enormous privilege which God owes no one but in His mercy he has allowed us to raise our very own. Every time we gaze at our baby with a smile half on our faces and half on our souls and say her name we remember that compassion. We remember that our God is a merciful God. There were so many interesting names to choose from but ultimately we felt that her name should describe a divine character trait we covet for her. We deeply desire that our Mercy will be full of the same compassion toward others that God has showed us.

Elizabeth was Sara's grandmother's name, an important figure to both of us. Elizabeth means God's oath or consecrated to God. In the parable of the talents, Jesus teaches us that what He has given us should be invested for His kingdom and not buried away. We want to be good and faithful stewards by consecrating Mercy Elizabeth for His kingdom. As she grows we will effort to be and do all we can to help Mercy have a passionate love for Jesus.

Sunday Duds

Mercy made it to church for the second time on her fourth week outside of tummyland.  We must be training her well because she slept through the whole service.  Kinda funny since the message involved Peter falling asleep in the garden. It was the first time we dressed her in something fancy as you can see in the pics.  She has already outgrown some of her clothes so she must be growing. I managed to install a fold down table on the bedroom wall as a changing table so we don't have to break our backs leaning over the bed anymore. I'm excited to see what she does tomorrow to commemorate her one month mark. 

Mercy Nears One Month

This nap goes out to Grandma Joan.  Happy Birthday from Mercy.

Hooray for Naps

There is something very rewarding about seeing your child sleep. I guess it's a combination of sheer love for your baby and a sense of accomplishment after all that led up to the nap.