Day 529 Friday, August 27th 2021

There’s a new boy in our family. His name is Kai Prentiss Carlson and he was born on August 23rd.

(Kai Prentiss Carlson)

There’s a new boy in our family. His name is Kai Prentiss Carlson and he was born on August 23rd – four days ago. Grace and Peter are his parents and so proud, happy and relieved.

(Kai coming home)

Both Grace and Peter have time off for parental leave and they’ll have a few months to get to know this new little person.

(Mother Grace and Baby Kai)

We love the name Kai – totally surprising and lovely with roots from many different lands and cultures. In Hawaiian culture, it means "sea." In Japanese culture, "shell” and also “pioneer." In Europe, Kai is perceived as having Frisian roots (Frisia on the north sea including parts of Denmark, Germany and Holland) , a short form of the name Kaimbe, meaning “warrior.” Native American “willow tree”, in Chinese “triumph” or “victory.”

(Father Peter and Kia with stork from a neighbor)

Kai is also considered to have Welsh, Scandinavian, and Greek roots; its meaning is "keeper of the keys; keeper of earth." African, Chinese, Korean, Native American, and Turkish cultures all use the name Kai.

Ain’t we lucky. Welcome Kai. Welcome to the world. Welcome to Emmaus and our family.

Here are a few photos of this tiny little boy.

(Kai with Grandma Barbara)