...to the MAX!

I mentioned in a previous post that we have had a name for Baby #2 for sometime. We keep calling him "This One" with a quick point to the belly, but the name has been around with us since the beginning (did I mention that I knew it was a boy from minute one?) For some reason, once he was officially a boy to everyone else, I started to get nervous. Suddenly this name thing seemed so permanent and official and intimidating and "How can I raise this kid when I can't even commit to the name?" thoughts. We were so sure of Anderson's name. Anderson is after his daddy, his GG and his Pappaw. His middle name, Vincent, is after his Bop. It was so perfect and I just started getting nervous thinking we would not be able to come up with another perfect one.

Whatever.

The name was there all along and I think I possibly was so overwhelmed by the sheer awesome perfection of it that I was fighting it for some reason.

But, the brief insanity has passed and we are back. His name, as I am sure you have gathered, will be MAX.

Because...

- It's perfect.
- How can a kid not be chill and friends with everyone with a name like Max?
- I really like the letter X
-I want a family name and , technically, Max is related to the Grinch who has been at everyone of my Christmas holidays since I was born
-His name will be Max. Not Maxwell, not Maximus (it was debated for a second....)
-We just really like the sound of it. Let's be honest, it just makes me happy to say :)
-It's a strong name-Max. Glover, CEO...Max Glover, Astronaut...Captain Max Glover...
- As an educator, I have literally known thousands of kids and I cannot handle remembering them when I think of my kid. I am blessed/cursed with a crazy memory, so even the random kids stay on my radar. Anyway, one of my favorite students ever (followed closely/tied with his sister, Tess) was a student I had named Max. He was everything you would want in a student and I am so lucky to still be close to his family. He was the student who started the tradition of bringing a Christmas tree to my classroom about 6 years ago and made sure that someone carried it on even after he graduated. So, of course he & his sister showed up at my office with a tree this year! If my kids turn out at all like these 2 sheer examples of awesomeness, we will have done something right!

But, Max is not all, of course. When I am angry (or just feel like balancing his name with his older brother's much longer name), I will yell, "MAX DOMINIC"!  Dominic was my grandfather's name and my uncle's name. Does it get more Italian than Dominic Garzoli? There must be an Italian part to the name. Plus, I like a little shout out to a Saint. ( Dominic is the patron saint of astronomy-perhaps "This One" will be into space stuff?)

The original Dominic with my Nanny! (My grandma would be insanely jealous that this baby is not a girl named Gilda after her. But, she would have still loved him fiercely, even if she would have told everyone his middle name and said, "If he was a girl, she would have been Gilda". That's just how she rolled.)

 Nanny, The Uncle Dominic (Uncle Bubba as we called him) and Pops.  *Please notice the giant plate of various kinds of olives on the table. Was that dinner? It was not uncommon to have a lasagna appetizer, so, perhaps, we followed that with olives?*

A clearance post Christmas buy. Oh, my. There are 4 plates-one for each of us to use next year! Happiness is Grinch Christmas plates.

While I am sure one day I will regret this connection, I love, love that he will be King of the Wild Things and ALL of the rumpus will start with him!

Because what the world needs, is a rumpus starter, I do believe. 

And based on his ridiculous movement in utero, he is clearly already starting the wild rumpus.

Seriously, I think this is why I have been drawn to monster stuff for this one. Does anyone realize the weird pirate thing I had when I was pregnant with Anderson? I planned his first birthday (pirates), had a bunch of pirate baby stuff and even called him Little Pirate in my pregnancy journal. 

We all know how that premonition worked out for us. 

So, to say that I am seriously angry at myself for attaching this one with monsters when my first pregnancy prediction came true would be an understatement. But, a Bobble cannot fight her instinct. I have bought a "Mommy's Little Monster" onesie and possibly already bought a monster Halloween costume because I am a ridiculous hoarder and it was less than $1.

I am pretty stoked about the mischief he will cause, telling him that I love him best of all (as in, I love him more than anyone else does, not that he is my favorite because they will both be my favorites, of course) and keeping his supper hot for him. ( if you have not read the above mentioned book, you will make zero connections from that sentence)

And, totally unrelated, but while I was looking for old pics, I found this one of my puppy Worms. Chloe was trouble from the start (she peed all over us when we first picked her up & then ate my shoe), but for some reason, we were drawn to her. Love that little face.