Introducing...Whaddayacallhim!

"Oy Vei, the day I've had!"

Two weeks ago, at 13 minutes to midnight on Friday the 13th, Thing 2 made his real world debut.

The past two weeks have gone by in a bit of a whirl, which partially explains my absence on this space.

However, one of the biggest concerns keeping me from this blog is something much more ridiculous:

Namely and to wit, what the hell am I going to call this child on the blog?

I have a feeling that continuing to refer to Thing 2 as Thing 2 now that he is ex utero could be the cause of some remarkably expensive therapy sessions in the future. But determining a reasonable alternative has become something of a difficult question for this particular mother.

You see, LO was LO from before his birth. I didn't put much thought into his nickname, and even once the child has grown taller than me, he will continue to be my Little One.

Thing 2 doesn't feel nearly so sentimental.

So, here are some of the alternatives that I am pondering:

• Behold. This was a suggestion my dad made back when LO was under a year old, since it has a nice symmetry to it. The problem is that it could send LO to the therapist's couch.
• Butch. This was my dad's nickname growing up, which he hated. I'd love for Thing 2 to feel a connection to his Grandpa, but I'd hate to be responsible for the continuation of a loathed nickname. That, and Dad might haunt me.
• Cappy. A friend of LO's seemed to think that this was the name we had chosen for the baby. As the friend's mom put it when she related this to me, "No idea where that came from, but I thought it was pretty funny (um, unless you're planning on naming your baby Cappy, and then, um, great name!)" (Not to worry, Cappy is not the child's given name).
• Little Two. This was suggested by a friend on my Mensch blog. We'd have to shorten it to L2 or LT, of course.
• The Agent. Thing 2 shares his initials with certain fictional international spies (since they all seem to have the same initials, oddly). I like the idea of him being a miniature secret agent man.

Of course, I may find that despite all of my efforts, Thing 2 may well stick. (It's not as if I haven't called him by LO's, J's, the dog's, and the cat's name multiple times in the real world over the past two weeks.)

Whatever we end up calling whathisface, I'm thrilled that he's here.

(By the way, feel free to weigh in on your favorite blog nickname. I really could use some help, here).