What I Have to Put Up With

While I do appreciate all of the attention and I'm always one for a good joke, even at my own expense, this is a bit ridiculous.  Big Sis Ava and Daddy thought it would be funny to have me drive the school bus.  I don't even have a drivers' license and they didn't even put on my seat belt!  Of course, Mommy is equally to blame because instead of rescuing me, she ran and got the camera! Don't even think about short bus jokes!

Guess Who

Here's a little game to test how well you know my sister and me.  Mommy saved one of Big Sis Ava's outfits and dressed me up in it as well.  Fortunately, yellow duckies are gender-neutral.  Mommy even got the same white blankie and took my picture at almost the same age (I am 6 weeks in mine and Ava is 6 weeks, 2 days).  So, can you tell who is who?  The answer is at the bottom.

The top picture is of Ava and the bottom one is of me.  Did you guess correctly?

More Pictures

Hello Everyone!  There has been all this talk about my namesakes lately, including pictures, but nothing of me! While I appreciate my Mommy's interest in sharing stories with you, sometimes you just want to see pictures.  So, here are a few to tide you over until the next installment.

Snuggling with Mommy ~ 3 weeks old

Snuggling with Big Sis Ava ~ 4 weeks old

Sweet Dreams (during the hours of 8AM - 8PM!) ~ 5 weeks old

How I Got My Real Name

When Mommy and Daddy were trying to chose a name for me, they had a lot of help.  So many family and friends had thoughtful and . . . ahem . . .  creative suggestions.  Let me share a few . . .

·          Big Sis Ava – Baby Sister (even after she learned I was a boy), Baby Brother

·         Granny Z and Nanny – Steven, Matthew, or Steven Matthew

·         Aunts Cinse, Lisbet, and Jacque – Fergus, Magnus, Finlay, Selwyn, Declan, basically anything in the Celtic Family

·         Mr. Philip – Bucephelus, Omni, Trigger, Tiberius

·         Ms. Cathy’s Brother-in-Law – Rudder (after his dog)

·         Allie – Riley, Connley, Tyler, Jackson

·         Mommy – Henry, Ian, Sean, Evan

·         Daddy – Jason, Kyle, Quinn, Colin

Pretty quickly, Daddy narrowed his first choice down to Colin but it took Mommy some time to be swayed.  However, it did have a nice Scottish ring to it when coupled with Stuart and she slowly grew to like the name.  My middle name is for my Mommy’s daddy, Carl Emanuel.

Finally, for those who are as geeky as Mommy, here are the derivations of my names :

Colin –Gaelic – young creature and a shortened form of Nicholas

Emanuel – Hebrew – God is with us

Finally, this post is well-timed – Happy Birthday to Grandpa Carl Emanuel who would be 79 today – thanks for sharing your name.

Aunt Roseann, Grandpa Carl and Mommy

How I Got My Nickname, part 2

After my post explaining the nickname “Button,” many fans decried the omission of my original nickname, “Vladimir Otto.” So, I thought I would acknowledge the names that served as my placeholder for almost seven months.


When Mommy and Daddy found out I was a boy, Daddy immediately went to the sports page for inspiration.  Baseball season was at its zenith and there was a slew of Joses, a Hideki and an Ichiro from which to choose.  And then there was Vladimir Guerrero.  Immediately, Daddy and Mommy thought this was a great potential name.  They figured, who would mess with a Vlad on the playground . . . I mean, think about some of the great Vlads in history; would you mess with them:

·         Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (1431–1476), more commonly known as Vlad the Impaler or simply as Dracula 



·          Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the Prime Minister of Russia.  He is wearing his KGB uniform in this picture . . .come on are you really going to start something with him?
And then there was the choice of a middle name.  Well, Big Sis Ava’s name is a palindrome and so, to be even, Daddy suggested Otto as a middle name.  Mommy was quite agreeable since there are many famous Ottos in history, for example, Otto von Freising (c. 1114 - 1158) who was a German bishop and chronicler and about whom Mommy wrote her graduate thesis.

And so, I was Vlad Otto for the duration of the time I was in Mommy’s belly.  While I was quite happy with this name, it didn’t win the final round.  Check in next for the final naming and explanation of how I got my real name.

And the Gold Star Goes to . . .

ME!!    I had my one month check-up on Tuesday and I topped 6 pounds 11 ounces!  Yes, you read that correctly, almost two full pounds more than my birth weight.  Now, I’m not one to brag but that gain is impressive by any measure.  According to the internet (which is always correct) most average newborns gain about four to seven ounces per week.  So, based on the Excel spreadsheet Mommy put together to project possible weights based on a myriad of variables, I should have hit anywhere from 5 pounds 10 ounces to 6 pounds.  To say I “excelled” (yes, you may groan) at my job of gaining weight would be an understatement.  I think Wikipedia is going to have to update its newborn growth information with my new data added.  And so, I would like to give a brief acceptance speech to acknowledge this triumph.

“I am truly honored to receive the Gold Star for Weight Gain.  As a young lad, I never dreamed of achieving such a milestone, particularly since I wasn’t dreaming of anything at the time.  Who would have thought a small boy growing up in the tiny inside-the-Beltway hamlet of Greenbelt could reach such a lofty goal.  Of course, I couldn’t have done this on my own and I must thank very important people in my life who supported me on this journey.   First, I would like to thank my Daddy for the middle-of-the-night feedings that have contributed to this growth.  Next,  I have to thank Big Sis Ava for her efforts to feed me and her cheering encouragements when she sees Mommy feeding me.  And, of course, none of this would have been possible without Mommy’s yummy, high fat nectar.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.”



Diligently at work; notice the technique.

 

Another satisfying experience.  You can already see another ounce added - look closely around the chin, I think that's where it is.







How I Got My Nickname

You might have wondered how I got my nickname, Button.  Not every child needs a nickname, however, Big Sis Ava was known (and still is) as "Biscuit" and Mommy and Daddy wanted to be sure to keep everything equal with us.  However, in spite of loads of suggestions (mainly within the carbohydrate family), nothing stuck until Uncle Bernie came along.

When I was born, I was definitely on the small side.  I came out a few weeks early so I didn’t have the chance to plump up with the “brown” fat.  So, when Mommy saw me she said I reminded her of her Grandfather, particularly when he didn’t wear his dentures and yawned.  The picture of my arm adds to the overall “old man” effect.

Well, Uncle Bernie, upon hearing this description, reminded Mommy and Daddy of the movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald tale of a man born in his 80s and who then ages backwards.  And, so, Button I became!

Another nickname that was in the running was Dobby, a reminder of the house elf from the Harry Potter series.  Multiple people, unknown to each other, suggested there was a strong resemblance – you can decide for yourself.