Names Post #1 (including Sophie Lu's favorite) & 24 Weeks!

I'm 24 weeks pregnant today & getting bigger and bigger!

First of all, I want to thank everyone again for all the wonderful name suggestions & ideas! We all have such different tastes in names- it's very interesting!

Well, I really didn't think it would be this hard to come up with a name for the kitten. Back when I was so sure the baby was a boy, I thought girls' names would be so much easier- but I was wrong!

I remember when we chose Sophie Lu's name- I knew it was the perfect name from the start, but I will admit that before we had her referral, there were a couple of moments when I thought... "Hmm maybe we should name her Annabella..." But my first instinct and my heart kept telling me "Sophie". I have to remind myself of that this time around, because when I get stuck on a name, I keep thinking that I will get sick of it- so I have to remember that I will only grow to love the name more once I associate it with Kitten's sweet face.

So I am facing a few challenges- one of them being the fact that I am not a mom in her 20's... Since I've been around so much longer than many younger moms, I've had more experiences with names, met more people, and had more friends (including blogger friends) choose names for their own kids. So there are lots of names that I associate with certain memories (some not so great) or other people- plus there are family & friends' baby names that are off limits. So that kind of narrows down the name pool to begin with! Also, there are certain pretty names that aren't so popular now but were very popular when I was young- so in my mind, they are just too popular (examples- Lisa, Ashley, and Kelley- all names I love but know a lot of them), but really they aren't- does that make sense? Sometimes I confuse myself these days!

Another challenge I face is how impressionable my mind is (even though I didn't think it would be)... For instance, I've always loved the name Lulu. But someone recently told me that it reminded them of a nickname for the bathroom in England, and another person told me (while circling their finger by their head) "Lulu- as in crazy, totally lulu?" It's hard for me to avoid these associations now!

But my biggest challenge is Miss Sophie Lu! She is very opinionated and even more picky than I am! Months ago, I mentioned a few names to her, and she quickly decided which name would be her baby sister's. After weeks of suggesting other names (because this name does have it's possible drawbacks for me), Sophie still insisted on this name. When I asked her why she likes it so much, she responded with, "Because that's her name, Mama!" And how could I argue with that? When I was a little girl, I saw this old movie- I wish I knew what that movie was. I think it may be have been a Shirley Temple movie, but I've googled it and can't find anything... Anyway, in this movie, there were babies and little children in Heaven looking down from their clouds to the earth... They were waiting to be born and wondering who their mommies and daddies would be. I don't remember what happened in the rest of the movie (does anyone know what movie this is?), but this scene has stayed with me all this time. I keep wondering, perhaps this is how things really are- little waiting souls in heaven. And maybe Sophie Lu somehow remembers being in Heaven with her baby sister while they were waiting to come to us? I know some people will think my pregnancy hormones are just wacky right now, but it's the way Sophie says it with such confidence, "That's her name, Mama!" It's like she knows! And I love the way this name sounds coming from Sophie Lu's sweet lips- it sounds so pretty. So here is Sophie revealing her favorite name:



So needless to say, our current first choice is Annalisa (which means "Graced by God"). I have loved this name ever since the day I first heard it years ago. The major drawback? Nicknames or shortened names- we would only want her to be called Annalisa. I know some people have said that she will inevitably be called Anna or Lisa (both pretty names) but if this is her name, we will plan to always correct them with "Annalisa". I do know it can be done as I have friends named Elizabeth and Christopher who never used shortened versions- and no one calls them anything else. Still, you never know.

Other names I like: Tiffany (means trinity), Sasha, Arabella (means answered prayer), Lulu, etc...

Of course there are many other names which I do like- but for some reason I just don't "feel" right for the kitten- examples are Ava, Pearl, Julia, Violette, Lili, Mirabelle, Louisa, Ariella, etc. And for some reason, I do feel like I want her name to be 3 or 4 syllables.

As for middle names, we are planning to give the kitten a Chinese middle name to honour her big sister. We want to do everything possible to give them extra opportunities to share something special (matching dresses for the 1st year, etc.). As of now, we are planning on the first part of her middle name to be Li or Mei (Annalisa Li, Sasha Li, Lulu Mei...).

It's still so fun to look through the comments & read the Baby Names books- because I do find names that appeal to me one day that hadn't before. I really am trying to keep an open mind- it's just so hard because Sophie Lu is pretty convinced! She does say that she likes Sasha and Lulu now also- but she always answers "Annalisa" when someone asks what her baby sister's name is. And like I said, who can argue with that? :)