24 Weeks

Hi, Laura's blog. This is Kyle, husband extraordinaire. When I'm not busy writing blog posts for my wife, I like to spend my time reading, building stuff, and making the Internet do cool things for me. I'm also a librarian, so let's keep the Dewey jokes to a minimum, OK? 

Laura gave me the keys to the spaceship this week, so buckle up and hold on for another installment of "we write a blog post to our future kid." 

Part 1, in which I update the audience on our week:

We're getting ready for our big move to North Carolina, and lately we've been getting together a lot with friends for dinner and last-minute hangouts. In these final days, we're realizing more and more how blessed we are to have found such amazing community in Missouri. Leaving won't be easy, but we look forward to the community that's in store for us. Onward!

Laura has been struggling with sleeping lately. After careful analysis, it has been determined that this is a result of her trying to grow a human while sleeping on the cut-rate dorm mattresses we're currently using. She's tried every possible configuration of pillows--it's really funny watching her get into her pillow fortress every night. It goes without saying that we're really excited to sleep on a real mattress. We bought one this week and arranged for their delivery to NC when we move in, which means we're adults now, I guess.

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Part 2, in which I address the human growing in my wife's belly:

To Baby D, my first child, a son, and heir to the Denlinger throne:

First off, let's get one thing straight: I love you. Men in our culture sometimes don't have the easiest time expressing love for each other, but that is not a problem you will have to deal with in our relationship. I love you and plan on reminding you of that fact all the time. I'm sorry in advance if I embarrass you in front of your friends. Thank your grandfather--my dad--for being such a good role model in that area.

I've never been a dad before, Baby D. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I am so excited. You'll learn later what I do for a living, but essentially, I help people discover new knowledge. That's exactly what I plan on doing with you--we're going to discover so much stuff together. I'm going to read to you and ask you tough questions and teach you to figure things out on your own. You're going to learn about trees and stars and Wikipedia and John Lennon and Han Solo. I get to be the person who teaches you about girls, how to fix stuff that's broken, and how to be a decent human being and a genuinely good guy. I get to be the person that teaches you how to learn, which is such an amazing privilege. I hope you're ready to explore with me.

Your mom and I are moving in a week to the place where you'll be born, if all goes according to plan. You're going to be born in North Carolina, and you might grow up with a southern accent. This is both weird and awesome.

I've been feeling you kick and squirm in your mom's belly. You're really strong. You might want to stop jumping on her bladder, though.

I can't wait to meet you, little guy. Your mom and I love you so much. Over and out.

-Dad