Wednesday, June 13, 2012

What's Up Wednesday: Difficult Decision

Thank all of you for your well wishes on the birth of my first grand baby!!!  I haven't had a chance to reply to all your emails, but I will soon....or if not soon, at least when I get back home and am unable to hold Leo....but I don't want to think about that. 

Auntie Ally
I promise not to bombard you too much with baby pictures, but for now I am still on the new grandmother high, so you can probably expect one thrown in here and there.  Which brings me to the point of today's topic: choosing grandparent names.  Who knew this would be as difficult as selecting the perfect name for your child?  Who would have guessed that people have the same strong opinions of possible grandparent names as they do with baby names?!

The New Grandparents Name Book

Did you know there are dozens of websites dedicated to finding the perfect grandparent name?  They even have categories such as traditional, trendy and playful.  My middlest and youngest had a few laughs with this.  My daughter even found a few that she thought were perfect for me, but I told her they sounded like stripper names names of exotic dancers.  


For months, I liked the name NeNe as that is what my sister called me when we were younger.  The new parents like that name, and I could picture my little grandson calling me NeNe, but I wasn't sure how that would sound coming from a teenager.  My middlest and youngest of course don't like the name at all.  A good friend pointed out that Nene is also the official bird of  Hawaii which I actually think is cool.  We had run across this nene crossing sign when hiking in Maui years ago.  


 We were having lunch at a Cuban restaurant when the middlest suggested the baby call me Abuelita.  I almost spit out my coffee as this poster was staring right at me.  I snapped a picture with my cell phone, sent it to my oldest and said please tell me I don't look like that.  I could be wrong, but I'd like to think I'm a little cooler than this chick.  My kids did reassure me that I am a cool mom ;-)  What else could they say?

One handed cell phone camera shot while rocking Leo
 My husband is Cuban and my son said at least one of us had to have a name representative of his heritage ;-)  Our kids called my mother-in-law Abuela, but my husband and I don't feel like an Abuelo or an Abuela.  Remember those websites I mentioned that listed trendy and playful names?  Well there was also an International section, and my son saw and suggested Uelito for my husband (nickname for Abuelo...Abuelito).   

All day yesterday as I am holding Leo, I kept thinking "Uela" (Abuela...Abuelita...Uelita...Uela), and I knew that was the perfect name for me!  So executive decision  made (actually it was a team decision by myself and the new parents) and Uelo and Uela it is!  I also like the name Uela as it reminds me of my mother-in-law who unfortunately will not know her first great grandson.

Now I can sign the gift cards and finish the quilt label now that I have a signature!  
P.S. My teenage daughter doesn't like the name for me so all is right in the world ;-)

6 comments:

  1. Our first granddaughter named us...one day she came out with "mama", so we have been mama and papa ever since. The other grandparents are nana and bumpa (they were also named by their first grandchild)

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  2. Congratulations on your grandbabe!! That is wonderful news.

    And congrats on finding the right moniker for your new position in life as a grandparent. :-) I always figured if I ended up a grandmother that I would prefer to be Nana, but having watching a little bit of The Big Bang Theory, I'm growing very partial to Meemaw...

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  3. That last line takes the cake! And I adore Ally's onesie...

    I Think I told you my oldest step-daughter is expecting. Hubby decided he's just going to be Frank, period. I wished him luck with that one. I need to find one for me, as stp-grandma that isn't too old sounding!

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  4. Right now I'm glad we don't have that many choices for grandmother names. I had no idea there were so many to choose from. Here in Norway we only have mormor for mom's mom and farmor for dad's mom - or bestemor that goes for both. It is the same way for grandfathers. We have a mix of them at our house and are all happy with our names.

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  5. I, for one, am enjoying every single picture, and hope to see lots more!!! Auntie Ally looks just beautiful!! You are one cool grandma, and I think Uela suits you perfectly. Love to all!!!

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  6. Glad you found a name. That is fun. I can't believe there is a book dedicated to this topic. Who knew?! I love that photo. That child is just precious.

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