what's in a name?

because it's somewhat seasonal, i figured i'd take today and explain my lovely children's random nicknames. just like everything else in my life, there is a back story here.

i'll start with why we call fishie fishie. or rather, why i call her fishie, because it seems like most everybody has their own random nickname for her. when she was a little baby, there were times where she would just cry and cry. and most of those times i was a rather frazzled mommy. and like most stressed-out mothers, i didn't always act rationally. so, while my beautiful new baby was crying, and she wasn't hungry and she wasn't wet and she wasn't tired, i didn't know what else to do, so i would ask her "fishie, why are you crying?" this quote is a modification of one said at the end of finding nemo, when darla (the evil little girl) comes in and shakes the bag nemo is in and says "fishie, why are you sleeping?" so my baby girl became known as fishie in this house. it also fits now that she likes to splash and kick when she gets her bath. i'm also seriously considering throwing a finding nemo party for her first birthday, with more fishies and less shaking.

next i will tell the short and not so sweet story of lumpy. when he was little and just learning to walk and run, he would fall down. a lot. he was like those little puppies with huge paws that just have trouble controlling their limbs. watching him walk was like watching a baby giraffe take its first steps. he is now huge, so i guess you can say that he grew into his body, but those first months and years of movement really did a number, and his head still has lumps and bumps to prove it. thankfully lumpy's real name lends itself well to a real sort of nickname, but he'll always be my little lumpy. and my little puddin' pie, but that's a very long and random story for another day.

now though, i shall explain my lovely bumble's name. when he was around three months, he had a funny cry. it sounded much deeper than any baby cry should. it was also december, and all the great old claymation christmas specials where on tv. while watching rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer my hubby and i realized that our dear little baby was crying exactly like the abominable snowmonster. calling a baby abominable seemed a little cruel, so instead we settled on calling him what he's referred to after he becomes nice and helpful: the humble bumble. still, there were some in the family that thought any reference to something that was once a snowmonster could lead to bad things, though honestly i'm not sure how, so we shortened his nickname to bumble. now there are some that think he's bumble like a bee, and just call him bee, but really he's my bouncy humble bumble, and he knows the truth. if you ask him, he's proud to be named after the fuzzy helpful creature that puts the star on santa's tree, it's just the kind of kid he is.