15 Things You May Have Missed While Mommy and Daddy Played Russian Roulette With the Baby Bottle

Well, there you have it. It's been nearly seven months since I posted on Luke's life. Er...Luke's flailing on playmats while wailing at milk ducts. And now it's time to post again.

For, he has a competitor.

Little, adorable Luke has a little, adorable timecapsule playdate. And Mommy has a stomach ache.

Somehow when I began reading the Bible with Luke I didn't have the foresight to realize I almost literally wouldn't be able to stop. It's like that crazy colored merry-go-round the big kid from two grades up starts pushing once you get on. You contemplate the sloppy joes you ate for lunch and instinctively assume it would hurt more to jump off than clutch the side rail and ride it out.

Ok it isn't too much like that.

But I swear parenting could use side rails.

Or possibly a sign saying don't jump on the crazy colored merry-go-round when fat kids are present.

Instead, while others were whispering phrases like "family planning" and "is this a working emergency exit?" in hushed tones on other sides of rooms we entered, Daddy and Mommy were just carefreely playing away at the russian roulette game in the corner with the baby bottle.

And now, (croaks) ...

 

 

There. is. another. Demsick.

Yes, approximately two months after Luke's first birthday, another Demsick will gasp, cry, and fall asleep in two hour intervals. And we will begin again.

Though--I'll admit--I've neglected to post our little fun misadventures for seven months, our somewhat less little parenting miscalculations, and our downright not-at-all little mischievous infantary, I have continued to read to Luke.

Translation: Luke has read almost the entire Bible before learning to pee discriminately and not call the long-haired one, "Dad."

So, in the spirit of sharing or learning or something more productive than post-apocalyptic fat kid sighting signs--in order--I figure I'll bring you up to speed on the last seven (ish) months:


The 15 Things You Missed This Year

1. Tinkling on the wall. Sprayin' right across the paint.

2. Rolling onto stomach. Crying at being on stomach.

3. Emergency room. $$$. False alarm.

4. Rolling onto stomach. Flailing in failed attempt to move. More crying.

5. Baby food. Mess. Bath.

6. Emergency room. More $$$. False alarm two.

7. Dad cutting off Emergency room visits.

8. Crawling.

9. Crawling off side of bed. Mom says Dad's fault.  ...

10.Saying first almost word, "Da..."

11.Repeating first almost word, "Da..." endlessly at Mom. :)

12.Pulling oneself to standing.

13.Standing. Sitting. St--sitting.

14.Crawling after Dad as he leaves for work. Heartbreak.

15.Clawing at Dad's legs. Personifying cuddliness in miniature, huggable form.


There you have it.

Nearly seven months of knee-high variety misadventures. But ages since a heart fell in love with wonder bottled in little blue eyes.

Makes it a whole lot easier to jump in for another spin at the roulette game with the bottle in the corner.

The one, I know this time, we won't lose.

The one I wouldn't want to for all the world.

Not too long ago, I told Luke I am his father.

Very soon he will get the chance to reply-- "The Spirit runs strong in my family. My father has it. I have it. And...my sister has it."

Very soon.



---Click here to check out my exciting new book, which releases June 3rd!---

I think you'll love it!

Day 10: June 22, 2012- The First Love Story

Moment of the Day:

So I had a moment of the day planned. It was nothing. A leaf blowing in the wind, a wisp of meaningless memory carried away to pasture on a lazy day's westbound breeze. In comparison to the storm that was coming.

Angela and I decided to take our first adventure with Luke outside of the house. Outside of the comfort zone. All went according to plan. The monotony of days drifting in and out of feeding sessions and nap time, dirty diapers and rainy afternoons, clouds passing and coming again, seemed to be broken with our spirited first family adventure. We all packed into the little Subaru hatchback.

The whirring of the road noises and rotating tires put Luke fast asleep.

There was a feeling in the air. It was excitement.

This might happen. It might...work.

We pulled up to Boardwalk Ice Cream. Snapped our Racer 500 high speed child unit in one deft flick out of the back and into place on the pavement. Took the baby up into my arms.

And then...

A monstrous squishing noise emitted from the Valley of Despair.

This one would be nasty.

 I plopped the little guy down into the back of the car. Opened him up. "Scalpel..."

There was a swamp of orange slime that rippled through his undergarments as though agitated by the Loch Ness monster just beneath the surface.

We began quick work.

All of a sudden, it happened. Right at the moment I had lifted his legs, poised him for a swift cleansing by my dutiful wife, the second explosion.

And then, a sleeping baby boy soaked himself in the face with a direct hit.

Angela and I looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Five minutes and more than that wipes later, we were comfortably, cleanly, licking our ice cream, Luke sucking down his bottle, the two of us laughing and recounting the nor'easter that had just swept through and moved on past the coast.

A few strangers laughed and said this wouldn't be the last time.

I smiled.

I have a feeling they'll be right. And that's okay.

 

Post wipes and pre-ice cream, er, bottle

Loving every minute of our first family adventure

The Readings:

Genesis 23-24:51, Matthew 8:1-17, Psalm 9:13-20, Proverbs 3:1-6

The Bible's first love story. Such a great one. Fall in love with God's plan for you, as you realize through this one just how involved he is.

Bring on the healing. Isaiah 61 prophesied Jesus was going to do some healing, and doggone it, it's gonna happen today. Enjoy this one. And just believe that he's going to do it in our lives today. It's so easy. It's in his nature.

David cries out again. All cry babies, mine included, and people who go through actual pain need apply.

And God's plan is simply marvelous. Bind his ways and thoughts around your neck and trust in him always. Like our ice cream, Loch Ness monster adventure, the end may not be expected, but it'll always be good. Listen on if you want confirmation of what you already know, that God will make your paths straight if you lean on him. If you acknowledge him.




Read along:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2023-24:51,%20Matthew%208:1-17,%20Psalm%209:13-20,%20Proverbs%203:1-6&version=NIV

 

Day 3: June 15, 2012- The Flood

(Update: the podcasts aren't working with iphones since they are based on flash player. Go to the web browser of any computer and it should work fine. My apologies for any inconvenience.)

Genesis 5-7:24, Matthew 3:7-4:11, Psalm 3:1-8, Proverbs 1:10-19


To read along:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%205-7:24;%20Matthew%203:7-4:11;%20Psalm%203:1-8;%20Proverbs%201:10-19&version=NLT


"And then the waters came."

Mankind was wicked. Why is it always being like that? I wonder often. But apart from God, we often drift.

In the reading today, there was one righteous man, which must have really mattered to God. It was so important his name was mentioned in the Bible; he was singled out. It was so important, he was chosen.

His name was Noah.

He had a simple response to God. He did exactly what God said.

The New Testament reading, coincidentally, is very similar.

As this story develops, one who had been waited for through all the patriarchs and prophets, the heroes and villians, the ups and downs of Israel of old- the Messiah- comes.

His name is Jesus.

Today, both stories start to unfold.

They hinge on one idea:  doing everything exactly as God tells us.

Both men are baptized, one by a flood, the other by a prophet clothed in camel's hair who eats locusts. Both represent cleansing from sin and purifying to God.

And both did as God said. The second, as we shall see later in the story, holds the key to everything.

It's amazing how God's plan all fits together.

And interestingly, after Jesus was baptized, he was tempted. That's the way it often is with faith. Once we declare our righteousness before God in Jesus, once we are cleansed by him, the world tries to jump in and tempt us.

That's just the way it is. Right now anyway. Jesus wasn't surprised by this. And he didn't give in.

David found himself facing enemies, but he stood up to it without fear "of ten thousand...who surround him."

Noah was the only one.

And in Proverbs, today, the focus comes to you. What will you do, when the world comes around, will you listen?

I think Noah has your answer.


"Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means 'God is with us.'"   (Matthew 1:23- Day 1)

Day 1: June 13, 2012- In the Beginning

This is the beginning. I have a son!!!

"Unto you a son is given..."

At 10:38 pm, on June 12th, 2012, Luke Israel Demsick was born.

And thus began our journey together.

Today we began reading the Bible together (more me than him), just as we began our lives together as father and son.

Today we started at the beginning.

And the beginning is God's Word. The beginning is God's plan. The beginning is every thought He's ever had for every person (as the sand of the sea shore) for all time, culminating in a glorious love story of God for mankind, of danger and loss and escape and daring rescue, of life stolen and then returned. Of priceless worth found and then fought for.

One cannot acknowledge the love of a father for his son without the love of the Father for all of his.

This is where it begins.

The pages of this book are enthralling. The plotline, captivating. It is the most beautiful, epic, romantic story ever written. And it is true.

Humankind finds itself at a place not too different from my son's. Full of expectation and desire, but helpless to save itself.

Ang feeding Luke

It is a journey we all must begin.

This year my son and I will share it one day at a time.

Listen as we read for fifteen minutes or so each day and experience it with us. Drop in and come alongside friends. Watch God's vision from the beginning.

Today, my son's life has begun. I am the happiest parent alive. I wonder if God feels any different?

It is a discovery worth dedicating a lifetime. We'll take it a year at a time.

Oh, and I won't say it.

Ok, I'll say it.

Luke, I am your father.

---



Day 1: June 13, 2012- In the Beginning


Video of our first reading and Luke's first day of life

Listen or download for listening on a mobile device or ipod on the go:



And, if you'd like, read along:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201:1-2:25;%20Matthew%201:1-2:12;%20Psalm%201:1-6;%20Proverbs%201:1-6&version=NLT

This is yesterday's post. Today's should be up later tonight.

The Picture

The picture above means absolutely nothing.

Unless you're a radiology tech and you've spent your best years slipping out of study groups at Miami Dade College to catch Heat games.

Or you have a fetish for cute button noses.

That's one there. At the top. And yes, those are lips.   He'll grow into them.

You are looking at my son.

Or at least, that's what we thought he was a few days ago, before the doctor peered at the ultrasound screen during a routine check up and said, "Huh."

Previous to that, the glow on our faces when we proudly shared our offspring's gender was evident.

"We're having a boy."

Still pondering this, I wheeled my wife into the ER (Ok, we walked in. My swollen companion eased into a wheelchair. A pink lady whisked us off like Greased Lightnin' in a somewhat erratic scamper I can only describe as how a fed up Sandy would finally stop wondering "what he's doing now" and try to pin down an aging Danny Zuko at a Rydell High fifty year reunion).

We were on our way to the exciting stress test.

Having the presence of mind to both dart and maintain casual conversation, the friendly old gal asked what we were having.

To which my wife responded, "A boy," and then slower, "apparently."

Apparently. My son's Jewel of the Riviera had been reduced to apparently. Ugh.

I was duly worried. If not for the hundreds of little johnny monkey onesies and overalls or the prince charming monikers, then for the massive blog project I had just aptly, geniusly, titled "My Son's First Bible."

We were only there for the stress test, but I'll admit it:  I had already written half of the conciliatory blog post in my mind. It was as though I could see the writing on the wall. I would self-dub it as the most epic turnaround in the history of the internet. I would announce that, after a second ultrasound, we have discovered my boy conclusively produces far more estrogen than testosterone. He has an affinity for chocolate and synchronized swimming. And he has no willy.

The next day we found ourselves sitting in front of a screen, observing the real thing. The second ultrasound. With the radiology tech.

I readied myself to welcome my little "it" into the world.

After a routine check of all the extraneous parts, ie. kidneys, stomach, brain, and heart, the tech got down to business.

She waved her slightly gooey magic wand and peered at the screen.

Then, for what could only be the purpose of exacting excruciating cruelty on me, she called for a bathroom break.

I waited helplessly as the love of my life waddled away.

---
My wife and I love this process. It's crazy and hectic. It's unreal and surreal and at times a little nightmarish.

And on just the other side of it, I see our family.

The picture above means absolutely nothing.

Unless you're a radiology tech.

But it means the world to a father who can breathe a little easier about monkey pajamas.

The First

My son is now negative six days old. Ish.

According to the man with the stethoscope and a lounge chair with paper that sticks to people's butts and frighteningly awkward stirrups.

The preparations are being made. His first Bible is on the way. Apparently, though, my son does not
yet have a first name. This is a problem his mother is most keenly aware of.

She has made me aware of it, as well.

I vaguely recall hearing mention of this at times before. Now, in a strange twist, it is being repeated again and with a frenzy.

It has even been circulated that it would be in the best interest of the parties involved to see that he has a name before he reaches zero.

I don't quite know what that means.
But the dull glaze over her eyes when I refer to Boy Demsick could be a clue.

I, myself, am wholly excited about the world of possibility that is within her.

My boy is inside.

An adventure lies on each side of his walls. One out here, I can't wait to show him, of cowboys and tents and living room forts. Trails through forests and sunsets and sails.

On the other, a person is quietly growing, with a glow in his eyes uniquely his own. A passion that will someday become a man's, who will set his own sail to the oceans that rise and fall in his eyes. And the compass in his heart.

These things call to me. They beckon who I am. They bring me to my son.

Who will he be? Will he someday look forward, as I am, immersed in his own self-awareness of what it means to be a Demsick, yet captivated in wonder at the next generation? Will his heart draw him back to the one that came before?

Father. Son. Demsicks. Men.

This legacy of wonder we pass along to our sons.

Though I know but little, I am certain of one thing. This boy is my son. When he grows into a man he will be a fearsome thing.

And he will have a name.

Whether this is the product of a dull glaze over the eyes or frightening stirrups remains to be seen.

In the meantime, I'll go back to preparing his sails and try to ignore the frenzy when it returns.

It is possible that it may pass over in time.