Jack-Jack and Little Lady

Some of my defining childhood memories revolve around names. My mother was irritable with people who spelled my name wrong or assumed that my full name was some form of Katherine, and I was "Katy-Lane" or "K-K" (which I hate) when she was feeling playful but "Katy ELAINE!" when I was in trouble. In ballet, I was "Katya" to Mr. Peter. He gave me that name when I was maybe 7 and the first baby princess in his ballet The Twelve Dancing Princesses. He never called me anything else. In college, I was "kate-dawg" and then later "k-dawg" by nick-name loving friends. To Andrew, I'm "baby," and to my Little Loves, I'm "Mom," "Mommy," or "Mama" (which is my favorite).

I happen to love nick-names. I believe they usually are (and should be) regarded as terms of endearment. People whose nick-names I remember are special people to me. That's why I'm loving the many nick-names Jackson gives to his sister and now, the one she has for him.

Obviously, "Evie" is a nick-name in and of itself. Evelyn is too serious of a name to call her when she's giggling or toddling. But I call her by her full name when I put her in bed at night. 

When she was first born, she was "Baby Evie" to Jackson. I think he thought this was a way to identify her, or maybe it was because we constantly referred to her as "baby" before we knew for sure that she was a girl (you remember, all the way up to her birth). I joked that we'd be calling her "Baby Evie" when she was twelve. 

"Evie-girl" came from Rachel, I think, but I call her this all the time. 

Then, Jackson began to call her "Little Lady." She quickly responds to this and knows that this is Jackson's special name for her. I think it might have been the first time Jackson showed true interest in her, so she soaks all that up and lights up when she hears him call this name. If he has to apologize to her, it's always, "I'm sorry, Little Lady."

But, when he's mad at her for knocking over (okay, bulldozing through) his well-thought-out race car ramp (made out of books and blocks, all precariously placed), he calls her "Eeeeeeve." In fact, anytime she annoys him or is doing something he doesn't want her to do, she's "Eve." It's hard not to laugh. Maybe he took to heart our Bible lesson on Adam and Eve a few weeks ago?

Jackson himself has several nick-names. He answers to "Bud" or "Buddy," and his Daddy calls him "Stud" (he has since before he was born). Sometimes, I call him "Jack-Jack," which he thinks is silly. Apparently, Evie does, too. While she recognizes that his name is two syllables, she doesn't call him "Jackson." When she bursts into his room in the morning or after nap-time (let's face it: she's always up before he is), she shouts, "Jack-Jack!" with squeals of delight. Sometimes it sounds more like "Yack-Yack," which is equally adorable.

Little Lady sure loves her brother. And, whether he admits it or not, Jack-Jack is pretty smitten with his sister.

And this, as you can imagine, makes my heart happy.