I am proud to announce that my nephew Ittai Dawson is born!!!!! He was born on March 26th and he is the cutest little baby boy I've ever seen! (I can say that only because I have another niece not another nephew.) As you can tell, he has a lot of hair, he was a big baby weighing in at 9lbs 6oz (actually--come to think of it, I was also 9lbs 6oz, so maybe it's a family trait...) Isn't he adorable?? Look at that cute little family--Ittai is their first!
Ittai is not a common English name, but it comes from the Bible (ref: 2 Samuel 15:15-21 and 2 Samuel 18:1-2) in the time of King David. Ittai was a foreigner who pledged himself to follow and serve David until his death, so after debate and thought, David allowed Ittai to join his army. The next (and last) time we see his name is when David is calling his army commanders to him before a battle, and Ittai is among them. This shows the character of Ittai, that he--a foreigner--has gained the respect and favor of the king to be one of the top commanders of his army. Doing a little bit of research on my own, I found out that "Ittai" in Japanese means "of one body." Ittai also means "near, timely, or, with the Lord" in Hebrew.
I am a proud aunt and I cannot wait to "meet" Ittai when I go home for a month this summer! I am excited to see how he continues to grow, embracing the identity of his name, Ittai--close to God.
