The Name Game

Lily is a master when it comes to the art of making up names for people. Her and I play a game when we are out and about where she will usually point to someone and ask, "What is his/her name?" I usually shrug my shoulders and tell her that I am not sure to which she responds, "Well let's give him one." Quite simple when you think about it.

Lily has done this not only for strangers, but also for those who she loves most, her family. In our family, we don't have your typical "grandma" or "grandpa", instead we have names given by Lily based on something they once did, said, or a physical trait they have. This won't be the last time these people are mentioned, so it's important to learn their Lily names.

Birth Name: Maureen

Relation to Lily: Grandma (maternal)

Name given by Lily: Ditado

Back story: With the many miles between us (we are in Arkansas and Lily's grandparents are in California), we had to come up with a way to see each other on a regular basis. The web cam became our method of choice. Every few days we would do a call and for some reason, my mom started putting her index fingers on either side of her nose and "played" her nose like a horn. As she played her nose horn, she also made a horn noises, which sounded like "Do di do di doo doo. Do di do di doo doo." I believe she did this to get Lily's attention and boy, did it. I told my mom that she should be careful because that would be how Lily would remember her, and sure enough, the next time we got on the web cam, Lily pointed to the computer screen and said, "Ditado!" I am not sure that Lily will ever call her "grandma" and I believe that Ditado is perfectly fine with that!

Birth Name: Gary

Relation to Lily: Grandpa (maternal)

Name given by Lily: Papa GiGi

Papa GiGi's name was given to him by Lily mostly because she had trouble pronouncing "Papa Gary." However, earlier on, Lily was able to distinguish my father from everyone else by his moustache. So I suppose it could have been worse. Papa GiGi could have instead been called "Papa Moustache". Hey, I actually like the sound of that. Is it too late to change it? I'll have to run that past Lily.

Birth Name: Tom

Relation to Lily: Grandpa (paternal)

Name given by Lily: Papa Ooh-Ooh

So how did Papa Tom acquire the name Papa Ooh-Ooh? I believe that he actually had a lot to do with being branded with his new name, although it may have been done unknowingly. It all started when Papa Tom came to visit us after Sophia was born. Being the thoughtful papa that he is, when at the store, he bought Lily the movie "Jungle Book." Seeing that Lily was so excited about this new movie, my father-in-law was kind enough to sit down and watch it with her. Little did he know that in the time he was here visiting, he would watch this movie ten times. In the movie, there is a scene where Mowgli gets taken by the monkeys and meets King Louie. During this scene, Lily would turn to look at her papa and he would imitate the monkeys by putting his hands under his armpits and make monkey sounds. Therefore, forever sticking her papa with the name of Papa Ooh-Ooh.

Birth Name: Rachael

Relation to Lily: Grandma (paternal)

Name given by Lily: Grandma Owee

Lily's grandma Rachael became Grandma Owee very early on. Whenever Rachael would hold Lily, she was always very intrigued with her grandma's face. To be exact, it was the mole on her grandma's face that Lily seemed to be drawn to. When Joe would ask Lily what she was looking at, Lily would point to the mole on her grandma's face and say "Owee." Every time Lily saw her, she would point at Rachael's face and repeat that same word. This is how Grandma Rachael became Grandma Owee. Do you want to know what is so ironic about this name that Lily gave her grandma? Lily actually has a mole on her face and it is in the exact same spot as the one Rachael has. I guess every beautiful woman has to have their mark.

Of course this isn't where our name game ends. Stay tuned for more of the unique names given to Lily's aunts and uncles in my future story, "The Name Game: Part 2"