What to call the Grandparents

Now that you’re done agonizing over your baby’s name, it’s time to come up with what to call the elder members of the family. These days not only do you have four grandparents and possibly great grandparents but now there can be many more with second marriages added to the mix. How does your toddler keep everyone straight?

Lilah (a couple years ago) with some of her grandparents and great grandparents.

When my daughter was just starting to talk I asked each of her grandparents what they would like her to call them. On both sides of the family they said that she could call them whatever she would like. The problem is that in most cases a child needs a starting point.

I have always called my grandparents “Grandma” and “Grandpa” and if I was talking about them they would be distinguished by their last names. In this day and age it seemed a bit formal to do that. Since they had no preference and did not have an issue with the grandma or grandpa moniker (I think it’s because I waited until I was older to have her) we just went with the traditional Grandma and Grandpa. If we were talking about them to Lilah we added their first names to the end to any avoid confusion, for example Grandma Laurie. Of course, when she was just a wee little one she couldn’t even say Grandma. Instead all her grandparents were all known as “Ga” until her verbal skills developed. Great grandma was Great Ga or GG.

In the past two weeks this subject has come up many times with people in and out of the Le Top office. I know that grandparents with different ancestry solve the problem by using the name for grandma (or pa) in their native language, such as grandma is Abuela (Spanish), Oma (German) or Nonna (Italian). Often this is very natural because this is what they called their grandparents. What if that is not the case?

Some grandparents will take the opportunity to name themselves. Generally it’s something that is endearing and fairly easy for a child to remember like Nana. Remember, if the name is too difficult a child may simplify it by him or herself, and you never know how it will end up. In the end, most grandparents are just happy to have grandchildren and will be willing to work with whatever you child ends up calling them.

Here is a list from the grandparents.com website that lists traditional, trendy, playful and international names for grandparents. Hopefully it will give you some useful ideas to deal with your naming dilemma.

Good luck!

Full list of names for Grandparents

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Thank Heaven for…Haven!

Haven Bella looking like a Sweet little Flower

Our family finally has its first baby girl!  My niece, Haven Bella, was born on July 8^th of this year – a great birthday date to remember – 7-8-9!  We are excited to have a girl join the ‘boys club’ we had going.

Four months have now passed since the glorious date that we all ooo’d and awww’d over little Haven.  She is growing bigger by the day, and although still a ‘little baby’ her mom and dad were ready to take the big step and go out for some much needed time together – without children!

Friday was the first night that Mike and Joslyn took a breather from the kiddos and headed out for a nice relaxing dinner for two.  My nephew Justice was spending some quality time with Grandpa – and little Haven came to spend the evening in Aunt KK’s arms (that’s me!!!)  I have to admit that Aunt KK is not 100% confident with tiny babies.  Maybe I am just not completely comfortable, but at 4 months old…I thought I could handle it!  The evening (to say the least) had its ups and downs – here is how it unfolded:

6:30
Bye Bye Mommy and Daddy – Hello child that is (supposedly) about to fall asleep…

7:10
40 minutes later – after walking around the house, rocking and singing lullabies to Little Miss Haven, she FINALLY falls asleep

7:11
Carefully laying her on the couch next to me I pop in a movie – ready for an hour and half of quiet bliss

7:53
Haven is awake….Cry….Cry….Cry….

7:53:30
Aunt KK picks up Haven and tries to sooth her – more walking, rocking and singing (did I mention that I am NOT a singer?)

8:00
Dinner Time (Haven is a ‘Baby Wise Baby’ and she knows when it’s time to eat!) I pull out the Dr. Brown’s Bottle and warm the milk… 

8:05
Haven is NOT having it!  Try as I might this little girl does not love her bottle – go back to walking…

8:12
Haven is still clearly upset and not eating – I am at my wit’s end and praying for Joslyn to walk through that door…

8:13
Haven and Aunt KK say in unison:  HELLOOO MOMMY!  THANK GOD YOU ARE HERE!

Of course we all survived…and I am sure every parent (and every babysitter!) has experienced nights like this.  What are some of the tips you give your sitters – I could really use some!!!!

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My Baby is Growing Up

We had a milestone weekend. We sold our daughter’s crib. I didn’t really think it would be that big of a deal but when I got off the phone with the buyer, I suddenly realized that our lives were changing. I felt a little sad that her baby years were officially gone. The craigslist buyer came by on Sunday (yes, Mother’s Day) to pick up the crib.  I hadn’t even dismantled it yet since we let her sleep in it one last night. It was a frenzy to get it taken apart, and Lilah watched somewhat bewildered as her crib was hauled out the door and loaded into someone else’s car. I assured her that she was now a big girl and could sleep in a regular bed. We told her that her new bed was on the way.

Lilah's last night in her crib, and her first night in a big-girl bed...

Not ten minutes later my parents showed up with the new bed. We went over every detail of it with her and explained that it was special, just for her. Unfortunately, she won’t be able to sleep in it for about a week since we still have to stain and seal it. While we worked on it during the day Lilah played in the built-in toy box. It will be a big hit once it’s all done.

We temporarily moved a twin bed into her room and put all the pretty bedding on. When I went to put her down for a nap, I realized that if she wanted to just get out of bed, she could. Of course, she did! She ended up falling asleep next to grandpa watching a show on Sprout. At bedtime I had to spend much more time that usual reading and making her comfortable so she didn’t just get out of bed. She fell asleep after about 10 times of reading our usual book. One time during the night she awoke feeling a bit out of sorts, but I was able to snuggle up to her and get her back to sleep. A pillow then took my place, and she blissfully slept through the rest of the night. I can’t wait until we get the 6am wake-up from her on the weekend with her staring at us wondering why we’re not up. Like I said, life is changing! I can’t believe she’s 28 months already.

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Sharing Your Pregnancy News

When I was pregnant with my first child, my husband and I decided to let our families know on Thanksgiving Day. We gave our parents wrapped presents with “I love my Grandma” and “I love my Grandpa” bibs and let them figure it out. It took about half a second since they’ve been asking when we were going to give them grandchildren. (The pressure!)

The next time we were pregnant, we wanted to be more creative. My dad’s birthday was coming up and my mom had planned for the entire family to have brunch aboard one of the San Francisco’s tour trains. So instead of yelling our announcement over the railroad tracks, my husband and I decided to be more sly. I made a special t-shirt for our daughter to wear that said, “I’m going to be a BIG sister!” and see how long it would take for the family to read it. The perfect opportunity presented itself when the train photographer came by and asked the family if we wanted a picture. So while the grandparents and grandchildren were getting situated, I asked Miranda to take her sweater off. Sadly, no one took notice. Then the photographer said, “Oh, what a cute shirt!” Finally, my mom noticed. Everyone was screaming and yelling, and asking if it was true. It was hilarious!

Since creativity runs in the family, my brother and sister-in-law gave us their special announcement by telling us they were going to be in a Dr. Pepper commercial. So as the family gathered around the giant plasma screen over Easter to watch their TV debut, this is what we saw. We were all confused because we didn’t see any Dr. Pepper in the video. The last image took a second or two to sink in. And once it did, the video became an unforgettable announcement, mixed with tears of joy and peals of laughter. Classic!

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