Dear little baby Luka:
I am Karl, Your father. Wow, that word, �father,� carries so much weight, so much responsibility. In some ways its hard to believe that I am a father, no longer just a son, a young man, a married man, a working man. But I am so excited to be your father. I hope and want to be a great father to you, to show you the world and raise you to be a respectful, loving and kind human being. I will always love, care for and protect you (but still let you go when you need to); and I will always be right there next to you (or a phone call away), ready to come a callin� if you ever need anything at all�love, support, understanding, or just a cup of coffee or a soda.
I am so excited to meet you, and get to know you; what you look like, whether you are a boy or a girl, and all of your facial expressions (crying, laughing, being confused, working hard at something, making silly noises). Right now you are about 14 weeks old, and I understand that you are probably having a good old time keeping busy in your mommy�s tummy�you might be playing with the umbilical cord, sucking your thumb, or kicking and flailing around. I wish I could see you doing all this right now, and I can�t wait to see you play like this when you come out (and play right along with you). Also, I can�t be with/around you as much as I�d like to be right now because, well, you�re kind of�in someone else�s belly! When you are born, I will be able to see you, play with you and take care of you nearly whenever I want to (which will be quite a lot), and I am really excited for that.
Your mother and I haven�t named you yet, unless you are a girl (in which case you would be Carlita Maria Kaliher). If you are a boy, we are thinking of naming you Liam Armando, but we are still not completely sure. I wonder if you could choose what name you would want. I hope we select a name that you will like and will not cause you any pain�I would hate for kids to make fun of you because of your name. You should know that we are taking great care in selecting your name because we know how important it is and we want you to be happy, yet we also want to name you something that we like, as well. It is surprisingly challenging, choosing a name. I really do wish we could ask you what you would like.
Well, I think that all for now. I hope you have a safe and happy few weeks developing (and playing, of course), until I write you again. I love you very much.
Love, Your Father, Karl
Dear little baby Luka:
Hello, little one. It has been about five weeks since I last wrote to you, and a lot has happened since then. Your mother is getting bigger, you are getting bigger. You are becoming more and more human; you now have all your organs, which your mother and I saw during the last ultrasound a couple of weeks ago--your kidneys, your liver, your brain, and of course your heart. We even saw your spine. Everything is looking great. It was wonderful seeing you again�it makes it all so much more real. You are my child, and I can�t wait to see you. It was kind of funny, though, because you were full of energy at the ultrasound, constantly moving and flailing your arms and legs, yet you also seemed a little shy at the same time�you moved away from us and didn�t let us see your face. Maybe you were scared of the ultrasound machine. Whatever the reason, I was disappointed that I could not see all of your face, because that is a big part of you, and would have made the experience more complete for me. I still loved being able to see you, though.
In other news, your mother and I have begun to play classical music for you through headphones attached to Lulu�s belly. I hope you enjoy the music and find it soothing. We both hope you grow up to have a love for music (and for playing it, as well). Lulu can feel you move, now, as well (which as we know is quite often). It happens most often, it seems, late at night, so I put my hand on your mommy�s belly then to see if I can feel it, too. Almost every time, however, I don�t feel anything. Sometimes I think you know that my hand is there, and you stop moving just to play games with me. I know that�s not true, though, it�s just that you�re not quite big enough for me to really feel you move. I am excited for the time when I can actually feel (and see) you move around inside the belly. But I am most excited for when I can see you do those things outside the belly, in this world we live in. It will only be a few more months; I can�t believe how fast this is all moving. You�ll probably be here before I know it. I feel that I am ready�ready to be your father. I know how much responsibility goes with this job, and I feel I will be able to take that responsibility and be a good father for you (and I hope you will think of me as a great father). I can�t say for sure what will happen during our lives, but I know I will do my best to be the very best father I can possibly be, and that I will always love you for as long as I live.
That�s all for now. I hope you continue to develop (and play) well in your mommy�s tummy, until I write you again.
Love, Your Father, Karl