Baby Names

An illustration in celebrity naming convention: Keri Russell's baby, born a couple of days ago, a boy named River; Tiger Wood's daughter, Sam. Thank you, Tiger, for giving your daughter a simple, sweet name. None of this contrived crap like Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. I have a newfound appreciation for your down-to-earthness.

Since my girls are gone and I've done the night out with the guys, the Sunday afternoon Super Sports Weekend drinkin, played poker, left my clothes all around the house, not made the bed and drank beer in my underwear watching the US Open at 1am; I'm back to writing. I've spent tonight downloading new music and catching up on my slate.com reading. I should be doing Spanish homework, but I haven't thought of a good topic for my essay on a business idea that utilizes/capitalizes on environmental policy. So, all the downloading has got me wondering if my daughter - I would say children, but lets not get ahead of ourselves - will ever sift through my ever expanding music collection with curiosity, dread (at how utterly uncool it may be), or rapt attention. I'd seen my father's reel-to-reel collection with its 6hr tapes labeled "misc. hits" and the like, before he gave it away, and was measurably impressed; though I never figured out to actually string up a reel. Will she troll through some hard drives looking for lost gems, or songs I sang to her when she was a baby/kid? Will the opening verses of "Brand New Colony" and "Casimir Pulaski Day" stick with her? I trotted out Casimir as a boy's name and was roundly rejected by Ewa. Any kid with a nickname of "Kaz" - I mean - you can ride that nickname 'til 17 at least, just coast. Right?

On a downer, Bianca has the chicken pox. Its not serious, but rare in 9 month olds. Luckily, Ewa's got people around throughout the day to help her and Bianca. Bianca doesn't seem to mind much and it certainly isn't holding up her crawling. Within two days of arriving in Poland she was crawling, albeit in the dragging-one-leg-from-the-side style, waving, clapping her hands and playing "So big!" Ewa swears she was able to point to the map at her sister's apartment when Ewa prompted her with our classic refrain "Bianca, donde esta el mapa?" I don't know how families who must be apart can take it.

Bianca loves the dogs, and they love her. Ewa's older dachshund loves stealing Bianca's cookies and Ewa's sister's younger dachshund likes licking Bianca's face; mutually symbiotic relationships. Bianca squeals with delight at the site of the dogs and finds the cats intriguing, though the cats are smarter than to allow a shrieky, grabby 9 month old near them.