nate's lucha libro: Baby Update

Well, as I write this I feel like the world’s biggest jerk-slash-loser. Tonight while clipping Elsa’s fingernails (which if I had done it yesterday would have prevented her from scratching her own little face) I nicked not one but two of her fingers in the process. I got overconfident, didn't want to make her move/wake her up, and tried to cut the second hand of nails at a bad angle and without the best lighting. Bad decision. Drew blood and everything. She cried. I felt terrible. Still do. I guess this is the first of many – but hopefully not too many – times when I will make mistakes which will cause her pain. I must say that even though she is now sleeping peacefully and her little fingers will be fine, this was a fairly traumatic experience for me and motivates me on a whole new level to be a good daddy, to protect her from all kinds of harm at all times. This crazy world will bring her enough pain without me adding more onto the pile.

In addition to her little injured fingers, Elsa is suffering from what most people seem to agree is a strong resemblance to her father. When people make these cruel comments to Elsa, I like to whisper to her the reminder that God has promised not to give us more than we can bear in this life. (1 Corinthians 10:13) Mario, one of our interns, keeps saying he's going to start a facebook group called "Please join us in praying that Elsa looks like her mom and not her dad". My response: I'll be the first to join the group!

On to the happy stuff: Today we had another checkup and vaccination. It was the one vaccination that can be taken orally, so she was spared the pain of another injection. Once again, the doctor had nothing but positive things to say about Elsa’s health and development. She’s really healthy, and we thank God for that every day. Her are the current stats: She now weighs 6.1 kilos (a.k.a. 13 pounds and nearly 7 ounces) and measures 63 centimeters (a.k.a. nearly 2 feet and 1 inch). She’s growing like a weed and that’s a good thing. She spends most of her time doing what babies are supposed to do – eat, sleep, and grow.

In between those key activities, she is also doing some other things lately. We have happy fun family time every morning; this is when she’s in her best mood. She’s a morning person. Each morning the four of us (Lucho, too) hang out on mommy and daddy’s bed and just smile and enjoy each other’s company. During this time, Elsa is at her most talkative. It seems to me that she really wants to tell us some things! She just doesn’t have the words yet. Or we don’t understand her words. Another thing Elsa enjoys doing these days is “semi-standing”. She has the strongest little legs, and likes it when I let her support most, but not all, of her weight with them. It’s really fun. We took some video of these two fun activities, but I'm having trouble posting them. I'll keep working on this...

In the meantime, of course, here are the latest photos. Please keep Elsa Lynne – and her parents – in your prayers! God bless.

You know you are so scared right now.

Smilin'.

Hanging out on the big bed.

Grocery shopping on Daddy's birthday. She loves to hold onto my thumbs, and as always she's happy as long as we are MOVING.

Neighbor/student/friend Bego stopped by to give me my birthday card (which mocked my old age) and birthda present (Reese's Pieces), and hung around for baby bath time.