Pages

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Next News

I mentioned yesterday that we were looking forward to good news this afternoon. Well, the phone call came from Carrie letting us know that she’s expecting a baby girl! As I said to Carrie, we would have been just as happy to hear it was a baby boy. Mostly we just want Carrie, the baby and Al to all be healthy and happy. But it is awfully cool to know the gender ahead of time. Carrie’s also excited to be able to get the pronoun right - no more “he/she/it/the baby”.

Wisely, Carrie and Al are not throwing the baby’s name out for discussion. It’s too easy to hear a name and say to the expectant parents: “Oh, I knew a Engelbert and he was horrid!” But I attach a name to everyone and everything. So I was trying to think of what to call the baby between now and when she is born. Because both Al and Carrie are of Italian descent, I wanted to choose a girl’s name which was affectionate and sweet, but still be certain there was no way they would consider the name. I found “Bambalina”! It’s a variation or even further diminutive of Bambina which, of course, means little girl in Italian.

So now she has a transitional name from her Auntie Lee and her Uncle Chuck. Which is probably a pretty good introduction to a couple of odd ducks who love her to pieces already!

7 comments:

Ms Brown Mouse said...

They are calling a little girl Engelbert ??? :)
That's lovely news, girls are so much more fun to shop for !

Auntie Kate said...

I vote for Baby Papelbon until she is born. Let the Red Sox TORMENT of Al begin.

Pink Granite said...

Hi DMM -
Right. Should have thought that through. What is the female equivalent, oddness-wise, of Engelbert?

I hate to admit it, but when it comes to children's clothing little girls have it all over little boys! The only problem is they grow so fast. Oh, wait a minute - that's just more opportunities to shop!
;o)


Hi Auntie Kate -
Baby Papelbon! Ha!
Perhaps Baby Papi!
I'm still near to swooning over Al's determination to donate to charity every single baby item with a Red Sox logo on it! There are lines which cannot be crossed!
;o)
- Auntie Lee

Roo said...

Yeah for Carrie and Al, send them our regards.

I have to take up the boys side on this and say we are just as much fun to buy for, especially as any gadget will do and we don't grow out of it either, making gift giving easy peasy.

As for a short name for the bump, I have always liked Bebe (with a dinky accent that I can't type over the last e)

Ms Brown Mouse said...

How about Blodwyn? :)

Roo said...

Good Welsh name that, very tidy, bit like Mafanwy ;o)

Sue said...

That's beautiful! I love it! And I'm sure the transitional name will stick once she's made her grand arrival. Hope that everything's going well for Carrie & Al!

Sue X

PS. In South Africa, we have many odd traditions with names. For the Xhosa people all names are given with specific meaning. There are, therefore, many Xhosa people with names such as Mandisa (Sweet), Nomuula (Rain), Nonyameko (Patience), Anele (We are satisfied), Bulelani (Let's be thankful), Ntatu (Born on Wednesday) and Sipho (Gift)...
In the Afrikaans tradition, it is common for men to be given their mother's maiden name as a first name. So you'll get something like Meyer de Wet, or Myburgh van der Merwe...