He Will Laugh

Names come with meanings. Isaac means "He will Laugh", or "Laughter".

You have been laughing a lot lately. It's wonderful. Your whole face lights up and your baby laugh fills the room. Sometimes it's just a glance from your mother that sets it off. Sometimes it's being tossed in the air. It brings a new joy to me each time, and your mother and I can't help but laugh along.

I hope that you can keep a spirit of laughter throughout your life.

Laugh at yourself. A man who can laugh at himself is stronger than a man who can't. Don't take yourself too seriously.

Laugh with others. Not at their expense, but rather alongside them. Share chuckles, chortles, and belly laughs.

Laugh at the good things. Too often men laugh about things that are dirty, vulgar, or mean-spirited. This isn't true laughter, this is a cheap substitute.

I pray that your life is full of smiles. I pray that you and I can share many laughs over the years. We're off to a good start.

1st Month

Dec. 23rd you came into the world. People kept telling me that things change when you become a parent, and that they can't describe it, that I just have to experience it. Well, I am experiencing it now, and it has opened up a new chamber in my heart.

But there are many people you've brought joy to. You have an incredible amount of love and support around your life. Grandparents that can't get enough of you. Aunts that won't set you down if you are in sight. Great-Grandparents that delight in your youth and newness. And a Great-Great Grandpa who never thought he would see this day. (I will talk more of your lineage in a later post. Just know that you have a large and deep support net around you.)

We brought you home from the hospital on Christmas day, with snow flurries in the air. You are a good and precious gift. The best I have received. And you continue to give me good gifts son. As I sit up with you at night, or hold you when I return home from work, you bring joy and peace. I sometimes just laugh out loud as I hold you and you make faces, or as you stretch and move while waking up. You have recently begun to smile, and there is no greater source of goodness in my world.

Your mother has been amazing with you. Never before have I seen such determination, love, and strength from her. Not only in the long labor that brought you into this world, but in the long nights and the feedings and the way she is sacrificing her own strength to give you yours. I am so proud of her.

We often forget what our mothers went through by the time we're old enough to show them how much we appreciate it. And although you too will forget these precious first months of life, I pray that you hold on to the love and appreciation you have for your mother right now. That you respect her, protect her, and give back just a little of the great love she has for you.

This post has been long overdue, I suppose we've had our hands full this first month of your life, but just know that we love you. We love you now, and always. You'll often look up into our eyes, and hold our gaze, and I can't help but think that for tiny moments we connect, and you understand, and we get each other. Fatherhood is large, but my heart has grown larger for it.