.one.month.

Nina is exactly one month old today. A lot of you have been asking us what we think about parenthood. So here it goes ...
It has been an amazing month!The biggest lesson so far for me has been discovering just how selfish I am. God has been so patient and gracious in showing me this in so many different ways over the past weeks. Having to give up my comfort and my wants and needs and putting Nina's before mine has been liberating in so many ways.
I have discovered that contrary to my previous beliefs, I AM able to function on less than 6 hours of sleep, in fact, I can do it for a whole month, many nights in a row! Quite amazing, I tellya! Those who know me well, know that I NEED my sleep, and that I get very groggy and slow if I don't get it. Well, once again, it turns out that God, in all His unlimited wisdom and power does something insane with a woman's body when she has a helpless little infant to take care of 24/7. He gives her extra strength for every minute of every hour.
So in a few words, this has been a month of discoveries, and many blessings. And just so you know, Nina is so cute I can't believe it, and she keeps getting cuter every day.
Oh, a PS: One of my favourite things is watching her with her Daddy. They already have a special bond, and it is beautiful to watch Arpi with her. Okay, so all in all, I am very blessed!

Here is a recent picture of Nina:

Mother Theresa's youngest follower :)

.the.schedule.

Great many of you have asked whether Nina is eating well, sleeping enough, or crying a lot. So, here is what her schedule on a usual day looks like, you be the judge.

• 09:00PM Nina takes a bath and goes to sleep.
• 01:00AM Nina wakes everyone up by screaming as if she hasn't eaten in days, so she gets milk and falls right back asleep.
• 04:00AM/05:00AM Nina eats again, and then sleeps some more.
• 08:00AM/09:00AM Nina (you've guessed correctly) is ready for some more milk, so she eats some more. Eventually she falls back asleep. [Occasionally she is awake for hours, just observing the sounds and the lights around her accompanied with occasional whimpers (wake time)].
• 11:00AM Nina eats some more. [She usually eats about 3-4 fl. oz. (90-120 ml) each time she eats, but it happens that she won't eat this much, then we know that she is going to be up in less than an hour screaming as if she is starving].
• 11:00AM-09:00PM A mix of naps, cries, wake times, some time outdoors, and some skin time (if daddy is available).

Friends have laughed at us for thinking that babies can have (or will have) schedules, but I am more and more convinced that genetics (i.e. temper) has something to do with living a scheduled life.
We have never forced Nina to have a schedule, we don't (nor will we ever) let her cry hysterically until it is feeding time, just so that she matches our (or some child expert's) expectations of a baby. Her needs right now consist of eating 3-4 fl. oz. (90-120 ml) of milk every four (or so) hours and sleeping. And this is what we are providing, along with dozens of diapers.

Skin time with daddy

.spiritual.

Please join me in prayer for my parents, for they know not what they do.

Don't resist me, or I will destroy you with the power of my mind! (unagi)

.six.degrees.of.separation.

In 1929, a Hungarian author named Frigyes Karinthy published a volume of short stories titled "Everything is Different." One of these pieces was titled "Chains," or "Chain-Links." The story investigated in abstract, conceptual, and fictional terms many of the problems that would captivate future generations of mathematicians, sociologists, and physicists within the field of network theory. In particular, Karinthy believed that the modern world was shrinking due to the ever-increasing connectedness of human beings. Due to technological advances in communications and travel, friendship networks could grow larger and span even greater distances. Karinthy posited that despite great physical distances between the globe's individuals, the growing density of human networks made the actual social distance far smaller. As a result of this hypothesis, Karinthy's characters believed that any two individuals could be connected through at most five acquaintances. In his story, the characters create a game out of this notion.

Six degrees of separation refers to the idea that, if a person is one "step" away from each person he or she knows and two "steps" away from each person who is known by one of the people he or she knows, then everyone is no more than six "steps" away from each person on Earth. Several studies, such as Milgram's small world experiment, have been conducted to empirically measure this connectedness.

So here is some proof of how small our world is:

Our friend Isti with Bono from U2 in Sarajevo

Our friend Kyle with Henry Cusick (Desmond from LOST) in Rome

.pink.bundle.of.joy.

Well, Nina is eight days old and she is getting used to rough life. She is eating, and sleeping all the time, but she must think this is rough, because she will cry occasionally. I know, I know, I am just joking, a bit sarcastic, but you know me.