I was half asleep when Pregnant in Heels debuted on Bravo, determined to stay awake long enough to see Elisabeth on television. Oh, and check if my guess about the baby’s name was right. I figured odds were 50/50 that I’d be asleep before the opening credits rolled.
About ten minutes in, I was wide awake, sitting in the dark with a pencil, scribbling down notes. Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t seen the episode, you may not want to read on.
#27 by DJ Dwayne via Flickr
I’m a television addict under the best of circumstances. But when I’m under the weather? I’m incorrigible. The TV stays on 24/7. I’ve just recovered from the sickest I’ve been in years, and here are my hastily scribbled notes from a few days’ with the remote in one hand and Puffs-plus in the other:
Elsewhere online:
It was a quiet week in Hollywood, but there was one notable new arrival: E’s Kristin Dos Santos welcomed a son, Matteo Tomaz, a little brother for Luca Alexander. As Pam pointed out, those Mateo and Luca are also the names of Colin Firth’s two sons with Livia Giuggioli.
Tomorrow at Nameberry, I’m bringing you NASCAR-inspired baby names. There are more than you think.
Be sure to visit next Saturday, when we’ll kick off March madness. I’ll have a post up explaining the play-off process later this week.
As always, thanks for stopping by!
The Number 30 by Herman Turnip via Flickr
It strikes me that I’m now into my fourth year of writing at AppMtn. My first post was Ava and Harlow, back on January 23, 2008. I’d learned the mechanics of blogging for work a few years earlier; I now manage yet another blog in Real Life, and it looks like it is about to be joined by another. Nothing I’ve written professionally has given me anywhere near the joy I’ve gotten out of writing here, and I credit that to you. (Yup, even you lurkers. I can’t hear you, but I can see you – and it’s nice to know that you’re here, too.)
On to the news:
Stop by Nameberry tomorrow where I’ll be talking about names I found while culling through the list of Oscar nominees. (C in DC, thanks for the inspiration!)
Speaking of The Glamorous Life, please welcome the following sure-to-be-paparazzi-stalked tots to the universe:
Which reminds me, Clio is obsessed with Gwen Stefani and Akon’s single “The Sweet Escape.” How do you say no to a toddler who asks for “more Woo-hoo song, peeeeez?”
Speaking of requests, I’ll be doing another rerun week in April. Should you stumble across a post that you think needs some freshening up, feel free to suggest it via email to appmtn (at) gmail (dot) com.
That’s all for this week. As always, thank you for reading!
Is there a baby names arms race?
I happen to be writing from New York City, just a week after the Health Department released their 2009 stats proclaiming Isabella and Jayden top of the charts. Yawn.
But then the Wall Street Journal’s Metropolis blog interviewed Baby Name Wizard’s Laura Wattenberg on the results. Two things stood out: first, Wattenberg is a master of linguistic analysis. She declares that today’s parents prefer names lacking “two consecutive voiced consonants.” Buh-bye Robert and Alfred, Nancy and Betsy.
But this quote grabbed me: “Individuality has become a prized virtue and there’s a kind of competitive landscape — a baby name arms race — where parents are determined to make their child stand out.”
It is true that even the most common given names are given to fewer children with every passing year, whether that name is Mary or Isabella or Ava, John or Jacob or Jayden. But I’m not sure that we’re intentionally competing for a stand-out name for our kids … more in a future post.
Elsewhere online:
In celeb news, I was so busy speculating about Egypt catching on, and what Beyonce might name her maybe-baby, and how crowd-sourcing works because second-born Bowen Brees has a much better name than elder son Baylen … well, I missed the arrival of Lance Armstrong’s daughter, Olivia Marie, a little sister for Luke, Isabelle, Grace, and Max.
And, of course, Matt Damon and wife Luciana welcomed daughter Stella.
Celine Dion has also welcomed her twins – two boys! – but names have not yet been released. Please leave a comment if you hear anything!
That’s all for this week. As always, thanks for reading!
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees crowd-sourced the name for his second son via Twitter. His requiements? The name had to start with B, as in wife Brittany and firstborn Baylen Robert. And, preferably, it had to be different – not in any baby name book.
The name they picked? Bowen Christopher. New baby arrived on Tuesday. Congratulations to the family.
My reaction to the name? Bowen appeals to me far more than Baylen, and I can see it catching on. What are your thoughts?
