Baby Names

We've been playing the "Should we name the baby _______?" game with Greta. So far, she's offered her approval ("Yeah!") of several lovely and normal names, as well as some unusual choices such as Truck, Cookie, and Stalin. We've decided that we shouldn't rely on her guidance for naming this baby.

Interestingly, despite her general approval of virtually any name or word that we suggest, when asked directly, "What should we name the baby?" she has steadfastly replied with only one suggestion: Pie.

Or is it π?

With our first two pregnancies, my due date was within 2 days of March 14 (Pi Day).  Greta was due March 16, but born March 18. The baby boy that we lost would have been due March 12. In both cases, my initial excitement over discovering that I was pregnant involved mentally marking my due date and noting its proximity to Pi Day. I hoped and hoped that I would be lucky enough to have a "Pi Baby."

So imagine my surprise when Greta announced that the baby should be named Pi. We don't eat a lot of pie in our household. She's familiar with the word from books, of course, but there are many words that she is much more familiar with -- like "milk" or "puppy." Why she has decided that the baby should be named Pi(e) has mystified us. Perhaps she has a distant memory of me expressing my hopes that Sparkie would be a "Pi Baby" -- but if that's the reason, the would be remembering comments from last summer.

For awhile, when she would suggest Pi(e), she would laugh like it was our inside joke. She then began to chuckle and say, "Pi(e)!" even when we were laughing about something else -- as if to say, "It's fun to laugh -- remember when we laughed and laughed about the word Pi(e), Mama?"

Now, though, she takes it so seriously and almost seems confused as to why we haven't simply taken her at her word. The other day when I asked for her name recommendations, she didn't miss a beat -- "Pi(e)," she said, as though she was puzzled by my lack of memory.

I am starting to wonder whether Greta is going to call the baby Pi(e), no matter what. It might be a cute nickname for her to give the baby. A funny story about how I finally got my Pi Baby.