So today at the playdate Trio totally busted his head on the tile floor after tripping over someone's feet. This happens I'm not mad about it or anything; he could just as easily bust his head at home (and he has). But what surprised me was how fast it bruised and he got a goose egg. See I don't bruise easily at all; the only time I was in danger of it was when i was on medication following my C-section. So I know he didn't get it from me. I don't think his dad bruises easily so he didn't get it from us.
In my curiosity I called my dad only to find out that yup my mom bruised easily. From the way he made it sound, she could trip and have a bruise the next day. So he got that from his grandma which (in a twisted way) gives me a warm feeling because it is something he shares with her. See my mom died when I was 8 so he will never know her safe for stories we tell. And I know I liked hearing how I was like great grandparents who passed before I was born so I'm hoping he'll enjoy sharing something with his Grandma Janice.
And that gets me to the subject of genetics. For whatever reason, society only remembers moms and dads when it comes to kids and yeah while it is true that more often than not they are like their parents there are two who different family trees that features and personality traits can come from. It's not just you two when it comes to your kids there's a whole deep, deep gene pool in which to fish from. And sometimes this can backfire should there be some undesirable traits in your genes but sometimes it is a nice touch. Is it awesome that Trio bruises easily? Not completely because I don't fancy strangers thinking I beat the crap out of my kid as they will if he has tons of bruises. But since I know it's a trait my mother had it makes it kind of bittersweet.
On a different note, tomorrow Trio has an appointment with his cardiologist so hopefully we will find out that we can stop the medicine he has been on for the last year. Hopefully his heart is doing better and from my end it seems because he can run and play with the best of toddlers his age. And it was also brought to my attention today that he is losing baby fat and starting to look like a toddler which makes me somewhat sad because it means my little boy is slowly but surely growing up. I mean I know I have miles to go such as the wonderful twos-threes, not to mention potty training, the "joys" of pre-teen and teenage years, and the like. But this is a step in that direction and it make me sad. I am not sure if we're going to have more kids so this may be my only one and I enjoy all the time with him that I can and I'm not ready for him to grow up yet.
Of course he's not even two yet. I realize this is kinda morose to think that way now but I worry about future girlfriends so what are you going to do? I'm just a worrier and my poor son will find that out in the years to come.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
What's in a Name?
I don't think I've ever really explained how my son got his nickname. His birth name is Albert Gregg Nieto III and "Trio" is a unique nickname for those who thirds in their family, don't think I don't realize that. So here is the explanation of how he got his nickname just for the record.
When he was born as you know there was a respiratory issue which caused him to go into the NICU at one day old. We still hadn't decided what we wanted to call him. Initially when I found out it was a boy I was thinking (like every other Southern woman who has a third) "Trey". It was then I noticed:
Treys=jerks.
Think about it. Every single kid at the daycare that I knew was a pill to say the least. My then preschool manager was going through a terrible patch with her husband who's name was? You guessed it; Trey. I could only think of one Trey I knew that wasn't a big jerk off and I didn't talk to him anymore. So I decided no Treys because of the bad ju-ju on his name and before you judge me think about how names hold powers and prejudices; I don't see many people rushing to name their child Adolf anymore do you? How about Benedict? When was the last time you met one of those?
Anyways so I looked up every nickname I could. I ruled out "Albe" right away for a few reasons. One it was a nickname my husband already had from his sister and he didn't want to share. Two (and this is quite honestly the most pressing reason) Trio would have hated it when he got older. The "e" sound at the end of names like that (Robby, Tommy, Bobby) all little boys end up hating because it sounds like a baby's name and it's true. Most Robbies I know are either Rob or Robert now because they don't like the way their former name sounds and I didn't want to go through the hassle later in life of coming up with a new name when he would shout "I'm not a baby!" I tried Tripp but everyone told me that was pretentious so I threw that out.
Going back to the hospital. One day when we were holding him in the NICU Albert made the comment that his dad had heard from his sister (Albert's aunt) of a woman who named her son Trio because he was the third boy. At this time Trio was asleep but when he heard that name his eyelids flickered and he made a movement. Albert and I looked at each other and I said the name "Trio" again to make sure it wasn't a fluke. Sure enough he responded again.
And there you have it folks; his nickname was born. In essence he picked out his own nickname (because we did try other names and nothing happened like that when we said any of the other ones). That's why his nickname is Trio and that's why we call him it. It could be possibly in ten years he hates it and wants to be called Albert, or Triple A (which sounds like a bad rapper but whatever) or what have you. However until such a time comes I am going to revel in the unique nickname I gave my son.
But it does get me to thinking about how powerful names are. Many people pass names down in families not because they particularly care for them but because it's a family name and there is so much history packed into it. Had I been a boy, my name would have been William Virgil after grandfather's on my dad's side. My niece is named after my mother who passed away when my sister and I were younger. My brother has the same first name as his biological father and as you can see we passed on my husband's name. Will he name his child IV? Who knows? But there is so much more to names than people realize at first. I've noticed that once you hear what someone is going to name their child (and I myself am guilty of this) you immediately try to think of a nickname without figuring out whether the parent wants that or if they have a nickname they would like to call the child. I don't believe people do it to be intentionally hurtful but it does. A lot of people weren't thrilled with the nickname Trio and I don't know if I made it readily clear why we called him that. Because he picked it out himself; he choose it at a time in his life where he only knew us by smell because he was asleep in the NICU on constant feed a time where sadly it was touch and go still he picked the name. And that's why I call him that. Yes I wanted a nickname that was unique but I also wanted one that meant something and it does.
So there you have it. That's how Trio got his nickname.
When he was born as you know there was a respiratory issue which caused him to go into the NICU at one day old. We still hadn't decided what we wanted to call him. Initially when I found out it was a boy I was thinking (like every other Southern woman who has a third) "Trey". It was then I noticed:
Treys=jerks.
Think about it. Every single kid at the daycare that I knew was a pill to say the least. My then preschool manager was going through a terrible patch with her husband who's name was? You guessed it; Trey. I could only think of one Trey I knew that wasn't a big jerk off and I didn't talk to him anymore. So I decided no Treys because of the bad ju-ju on his name and before you judge me think about how names hold powers and prejudices; I don't see many people rushing to name their child Adolf anymore do you? How about Benedict? When was the last time you met one of those?
Anyways so I looked up every nickname I could. I ruled out "Albe" right away for a few reasons. One it was a nickname my husband already had from his sister and he didn't want to share. Two (and this is quite honestly the most pressing reason) Trio would have hated it when he got older. The "e" sound at the end of names like that (Robby, Tommy, Bobby) all little boys end up hating because it sounds like a baby's name and it's true. Most Robbies I know are either Rob or Robert now because they don't like the way their former name sounds and I didn't want to go through the hassle later in life of coming up with a new name when he would shout "I'm not a baby!" I tried Tripp but everyone told me that was pretentious so I threw that out.
Going back to the hospital. One day when we were holding him in the NICU Albert made the comment that his dad had heard from his sister (Albert's aunt) of a woman who named her son Trio because he was the third boy. At this time Trio was asleep but when he heard that name his eyelids flickered and he made a movement. Albert and I looked at each other and I said the name "Trio" again to make sure it wasn't a fluke. Sure enough he responded again.
And there you have it folks; his nickname was born. In essence he picked out his own nickname (because we did try other names and nothing happened like that when we said any of the other ones). That's why his nickname is Trio and that's why we call him it. It could be possibly in ten years he hates it and wants to be called Albert, or Triple A (which sounds like a bad rapper but whatever) or what have you. However until such a time comes I am going to revel in the unique nickname I gave my son.
But it does get me to thinking about how powerful names are. Many people pass names down in families not because they particularly care for them but because it's a family name and there is so much history packed into it. Had I been a boy, my name would have been William Virgil after grandfather's on my dad's side. My niece is named after my mother who passed away when my sister and I were younger. My brother has the same first name as his biological father and as you can see we passed on my husband's name. Will he name his child IV? Who knows? But there is so much more to names than people realize at first. I've noticed that once you hear what someone is going to name their child (and I myself am guilty of this) you immediately try to think of a nickname without figuring out whether the parent wants that or if they have a nickname they would like to call the child. I don't believe people do it to be intentionally hurtful but it does. A lot of people weren't thrilled with the nickname Trio and I don't know if I made it readily clear why we called him that. Because he picked it out himself; he choose it at a time in his life where he only knew us by smell because he was asleep in the NICU on constant feed a time where sadly it was touch and go still he picked the name. And that's why I call him that. Yes I wanted a nickname that was unique but I also wanted one that meant something and it does.
So there you have it. That's how Trio got his nickname.
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