The Baby Jesus

I was talking to my daughter, as we like to do at the dinner table. Mind you she is only 9-months, so the conversations are pretty one-sided at this time. But sometimes she looks at me and makes sounds her baby language. Today’s conversation centered around the Christmas story. As a new dad celebrating Christmas with his daughter for the first time, I wondered what she thought about the Baby Jesus.

She is so close to walking on her own now, and determined to figure out how to get moving and on her own. She has places to go and especially people to see. I asked her when she thought Jesus took his first steps. We wondered together if Mary had a book like Ellie’s mommy has to keep track of all of Jesus’ firsts.

When did Jesus get his first tooth?

When did Jesus begin to sit up?

When did Jesus start crawling?

What was Jesus first word?

We took the conversation a bit further too as Ellie does a compromised version of Elimination Communication (or click here). We look for her cues and then take her to go poopy. I asked my daughter if she thought Jesus gave the perfect cues to Mary to let her know when he needed to go.

We were blown away just thinking about how the Son of God, the almighty who was here at the beginning of the universe playing a role in creation also sat on the floor and played like our daughter does. The king of the universe allowed himself to go through all the same processes as any other baby. Talking with my daughter about Christmas helped me get a new perspective of Jesus’ humanity.

How does thinking of Jesus as a baby change how you picture him?

Thoughts from a New Father

The wait was well worth it. After seven years of marriage, I finally get to celebrate Father’s Day with an amazing daughter, Eliana. Good things come to those that wait…and now I get the rare privilege of choosing what I want to do with my daughter.

I never imagined how quickly and intensely my little Sweet Pea could wrap me around her heart. She took me from the first moments and continues to capture my heart from the way she grabs my finger to leaning back in my arms and staring at my face only. Now we have our special moments of daddy and daughter time.

In the evenings, I help Ellie go to sleep with a story and a good amount of holding and take her in the morning, while Tina handles takes care of the middle of the night feedings. In the mornings, we practice a modified approach to Elimination Communication. This means she gets an opportunity each morning to go potty in the bathroom like a big girl. One day when I was on the phone with my parents halfway around the world and not able to take her to the bathroom, Christina told me how Ellie was looking longingly at the bathroom while awake in my arms. She enjoys her time of natural potty breaks, and I love helping her as well.

However, here is where the tension for this new father begins to tug on his heart. I wish I could see those looks on her face and know what she wanted or see her contently playing in the pool with me. The mornings after a good sleep are some of her most alert and happy moments of the day. She usually wakes up around 6:30 am and after the bathroom and changing routine plays for a while. She knows right away when this dad gets distracted by checking email in the morning and lets me know. The fun cooing and noises she makes dissipate if I get distracted with anything on the computer, so we instead focus on having lots of fun together.  I know she smiles up at me, especially when I feel her pudgy cheeks. That’s when I tell Christina to take as many pictures as possible, so I can see our daughter one day when I am healed. Each day that we get to spend moments like this together Ellie pulls my heart closer to hers as she lets me know how pleased she is to have a dad that likes to be near her.

I might not always see her reactions, but I am learning to tell when she is happy and smiling. Other times, I easily sense her mood change into that of gratitude when she was upset and crying before that. She says in no particular verbal way, thank you for taking me to the changing table…this messy diaper has been touching my baby bottom for long enough.

I love when she reaches her little hand across my shoulder and lays her head in my chest to go to sleep. It is as though she says daddy has me and everything will be okay. Even if I has some physical areas of deficiency, the real stuff she wants is a dad that holds her close and spends time with her.

I know this deficiency is just on my end. She will find new ways to catch my attention and make me react to her. She doesn’t love me for what I can or cannot do, but for who I am and how I love her.