What’s In A Name (Part 2)

When Sam told me we were expecting again, I was pretty sure the baby was a girl. As a matter of fact, I even had a dream about about it. I blogged about that here: https://nostalgicitalian.com/2021/04/23/and-the-baby-is-a/

This pregnancy has been difficult for Sam. She has been in a lot of pain. We found out that the reason for this is that the placenta is positioned anterior. Because of this, she has had a few extra ultrasounds to make sure everything is ok. While at her OB a couple weeks ago, he stated that while doing the ultrasound, he should be able to see the gender and asked if Sam wanted to know. Sam told him that we had already gone to the 3D place and found out the gender.

The doc told her that those places are right “about 50% of the time.” While he checked her, he really couldn’t tell for sure what the baby’s gender was. He even stated that there was certainly “a possibility” that it could be a girl. The reasoning was that the position of the placenta could have made it look like something it wasn’t.

This threw a big curve ball at us. What if the baby was a girl? We had already made the announcement that we were having a boy. We would have to wait and see. If it WAS a girl, we had a solid name picked out. Just like with Ella, it was a name we both agreed on almost immediately. The only thing that we hadn’t nailed down was a middle name, but we had our top choices all picked.

So we kept things quiet until this week. Sam went in for the 20 week ultrasound and we can confirm that the baby is indeed a boy. He is a very active boy (as Sam has been able to see in all the ultrasounds). Due to the placement of the placenta, however, it really limits how much Sam gets to feel him move. So with the confirmation of gender, we moved back to our list of Boy Names and had to nail one down!

We had a few names that really stood out. We went back and forth on a couple of them. We had one name that we really liked, but it was ruined by a story from a family member. There was another we liked and just really kept going back and forth with it. Finally, we came to a decision.

The baby’s name is …

Andrew Joseph to be exact.

Sam’s grandfather was Joseph, which is where the middle name comes from. Andrew was just a first name that we both liked. It works out great in the “nickname” department, too. We can call him Drew or “AJ”. I like AJ a lot!

There is lots of excitement and anticipation for his arrival. October seems a long way away, but at the same time, it will be here faster than we know it!

Funniest Observation of the Week.

Leave it to my dad! I called him to let him know the baby’s name before Sam posted it on Facebook. I loved to see his reaction. It was a few hours later that my dad commented on the post on Sam’s Facebook page. He observed that now I will have three sons and a daughter – just like Don Corleone in the Godfather!

David O’Keefe’s fantastic Godfather artwork!

Only my dad would have observed that!! That’s just one of the reasons I love him! Thanks Dad!

Under Pressure …

I’ve been through this three times in my life already, but it is ultimately one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do? What is it? Picking a name for our baby on the way. Why is this so difficult?

First, I think it is so stressful because we do not know the gender of the baby yet. We will be going to find out in about 2 weeks. We did this with Ella, and it is even more important to do this with the baby on the way. Sam is a planner. If the baby is a girl, we are pretty much set. We have all of Ella’s clothes (despite the fact that “seasonally” they will be a bit different), and that is a good start. If it is a boy, however, we will probably have to go and buy a lot of new clothes. We have some “gender neutral” clothes, but “Daddy’s Little Princess” outfits are more for little girls.

Like every other set of expecting parents, before Ella was born (and before we knew she was a girl) we made lists. We had a list of possible girl names and a list of possible boy names. The list of boy names was shorter than the list of girl names. Whether it was just easier to come up with girls names, I don’t remember.

I think it also helped that both Sam and I thought we were having a girl, even before we had the ultrasound. We had plenty of girls names that we liked. Boy’s names, however, they were more difficult to come up with.

Sam is always tossing names my way. I will be sitting at work and she will text. I can be sitting on the couch and she say, “What about ___?” My issue has always been that I connect other people to names. “No. I knew a _____ and he annoyed me.” “No. That was the name of the mean doctor on (name a TV show).” “No. I don’t think that flows with our last name.” “Absolutely not! The boys had a friend with that name and he/she was a little brat!”

Am I the only who does this?

We went through a Baby Name book before Ella was born. We highlighted names we liked. It’s weird how you can go back through the book and see those names and go, “Eh…..I’m not sure I like that one anymore.” How do you do that? It happens! Let me tell you, we had two or three names that we were dead set on for a boy….now, Sam isn’t sold on them. Back to the drawing board. Back to Square #1.

Then factor in that Sam likes to be able to have a nickname, and that ads a bit more to the formula (Ella’s name is Pamela, but we call her Ella). It is a process that will hopefully become a bit easier when we find out the gender in a couple weeks. Do we have any gut feelings on what the baby is? Kinda. Sam is leaning blue and I am leaning pink. Reactions from family and friends is very mixed. I feel like most were thinking we were having a girl last time, but this time it is a pretty divided.

We’ll know soon…. in the meantime, I’m feeling the pressure to narrow down some names that we both can agree on!

Nicknames

Where-Did-The-Term-Nicknames-Come-From

My grandparents had nicknames for everybody! In all honestly, I think my whole family had nicknames for everybody. For example, my dad and grandfather worked with a guy they called “Buckets”. My dad said something about how he had to fill buckets with parts or something at work, which led to that nickname. There was a family friend who we met while my parents where big into the CB radio craze. My grandma called him “Three Days”. He had gone over to visit once and then it had been a while between visits. My grandma asked where he had been and reminded him that “they bury the dead in three days” and the nickname stuck. We had a cousin they called “Flookie”. I don’t know the story behind that name. There was an aunt called “Harpo” because of a picture we saw of her with this Harpo Marx perm. There was an uncle called “Pif”. The list of nicknames goes on and on.

They also had nicknames for my friends. My best friend, Jeff, used to help when my grandpa drove us around delivering newspapers. We’d always be making noises and laughing. It probably annoyed my grandpa more than he let us know. Whenever he asked about Jeff, he’d call him “the crazy one.” When they talked about my Polish friend, Joe, they called him “the Polack.” My friend Steve had a variety of nicknames. Because he always seemed to have the Ace of clubs when we played pinochle, they’d call him “the Ace of Clubs.” He always ate a ton of Long John coffee cake when he was at their house, so “Long John” was another. One time he went into their fridge without asking and it pissed my grandpa off, so he became “the rude one.”

My Uncle Tom, my Godfather, had a few nicknames. The one I always used was “Rozmo.”. I am not even sure I know how he got that one. One of the Vietnam Vet guys used to call him “Rufus.” He will always be Rozmo to me.

My friends and I used nicknames, too. Many I can’t remember, but a few I do. I called my friend Margaret “M&M” because her last name started with M. This was LONG before Marshall Mathers (who went to our high school) decided to call himself Eminem. My friend Warren I called “JJ” and he called me “Victor” (characters from Cannonball Run). Steve went by a few nicknames – Srgt. PIN, Smokey the Bear, and a few others. Joe and I called each other cavemen names (maybe because of a cartoon or cereal or something) – Gronk and Ugma. Our friend Ron was called “Boom Boom” because it rhymed with his last name. I am sure my friends can remind me of others.

I don’t remember many of the ones I was called. In elementary school I ran for student council. I did my campaign speech in a blue denim cowboy hat and wore a blue suit. Although his suit was white and mine was blue, many called me “Boss Hogg.” In high school, when we were TPing houses, Steve called me “Hucklebuck” which eventually turned into “Hucklebuck DeValier!”

Baby Nicknames

It got me thinking about all the names parents call their babies. I used to call Dante’ “bubba” and Dimitri “buddy” among other silly ones. Ella is a nickname, as you know. Her real name is Pamela and we call her Ella. Both Sam and I have many names we call her:

Scooter Butt
Scooter
Ella Bella
Ellie Bellie
Pammie Poo
Poo Poo Pants
Stinker
Stinker Butt
Cootie
Scoots
Boo Boo
Toots
Tooter
Baby Goo
Smiley
Smiley Miley
El
Ginger Snap

She has so many names, she probably doesn’t even know her real name! At any rate, I was picking her up yesterday and I was talking to her. My Google Assistant on my phone went off and picked up me talking to her. It then beeped back at me and I had to laugh when I looked at my phone.

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“Sorry, I don’t understand.” Hilarious! I am sure that when I am out in public with her (when all these restrictions are lifted), I am going to be talking baby talk to her and people will be staring at me like I am crazy.

crazy

Did you have a nickname? Did it stick with you? Tell me about it!

Aka-your-nickname