What's in a Name?

So exactly why are we the nickname family? It's crazy, I know. But it's us.

As newlyweds, or possibly even when we were dating, my man and I started calling each other Momma Bear and Daddy Bear. Shh. Don't tell him I told you. He remembers how it all started; I do not. I would ask him, but then, as he traveled down Memory Lane, he'd get suspcious. So I'll just tell you that at some point I named us our pathetic cute nicknames.

So during my pregnancy with bambino #1 we began calling him Bubba. Yes, we are from the South. Yes, it does have redneck written all over it. BUT we knew he was our oldest, our first, and somehow it just fit. After Bubba came along at over 9 lbs and 22" long, Bubba definitely seemed apropos. What's funny is that he truly is the best big brother. Always protective, always the boss. Always the "big" Bubba.



And then bambino #2 came along..... Unlike my first pregnancy where Bubba would move around and kick, but did so in a polite manner, #2 son was quite the opposite. He bruised my innerds. No real polite way to put it. He was rarely still, using my ovaries as soccer balls. I began calling him Bruiser, and three years later it is still the perfect nickname for him. Ever so fitting. (By the by, he still hasn't stopped moving....)



Fast forward to our precious Little Miss, my original nickname for her. I began calling her that while pregnant, hoping it would stick, but alas it did not. In accordance with his role in our family, Bruiser began calling her Doh Doh. I should input here that his speech has been slow b/c of constant ear infections and two three sets of tubes. He has had VERY limited hearing. So, once we discovered she was truly our Little Miss, and we chose her name (which does NOT rhyme with Doh Doh, but does have the long "o" sound), Bruiser began calling her Doh Doh. I fought it. Who wants a child with the nickname after some extinct (or near extinction????) freak of a bird? People begged us when Bruiser would call her by name. But at birth, she became our precious Doh Doh.



And so that is our dysfunctional nickname story. We are the Bear Family. And it totally sounded normal. Until I blogged about it.