Wednesday, August 16, 2006

By any other name


One of the things we got the most compliments on when the Hatchling was born was her name: Eleanor Johanna. It is a pretty one, and while my southern relatives were quick to point out that the perfect nickname for her would be Ellie Jo, there are also lots of less redneck nicknames for her (Nellie, Ellie, Nora, etc.) and in fact that's one of the reasons we picked that name. There's only one problem: I rarely use any variant of the Hatchling's actual name when I'm talking to or about her. Mr. Squab has been giving me crap that she won't even know her own name because I'm always calling her something different. In my defense, this is something of a family habit, but I admit I've taken it to something of an extreme. Here's a list of names I regularly call her:

Stanley
Bobbie Jo
Hinky
Baby Doll
Fussbudget
Stinky
Scoobers
Drooly Julie
Hoose Foose
Stinkpot
Crankypants
Sweetest
Honey Pie
Baby Girl
Doodle Bug
Snickerdoodle
Squablet

And I'm sure there are some I'm forgetting. Does anyone else have this problem? What nicknames do you use on your kids? Or, conversely, what were you called when you were little?