The baby's name is ?

Aiden's favorite word these days is 'poopie'. Regardless of what the topic may be, he somehow manages to inject poopie into the conversation. So when I asked him what the baby's names was, the answer didn't surprise me at all. The only saving grace here is that, unlike the rest of us, he uses it as a term of endearment. But I am still not sure that Sol would appreciate it at all, so it's good that we have it all documented for them to sort it out later on in life.

More about Sol

I wanted to add more about Sol's name.

The end of my pregnancy was very emotionally difficult. I struggled with so much darkness and anxiety and overwhelming feelings of loss. Pregnancy is supposed to be a joyous and beautiful time of anticipation and it was hard to accept that I wasn't experiencing those feelings. I worried about being able to connect with our new baby and about his health. I worried about being able to deliver him safely into this world. I worried that I had made a mistake in wanting another child so desperately. I worried about how Aiden would experience the change. I was a mess. I'm crying as I write this just remembering how broken I felt.

When things got really dark, people started appearing out of nowhere helping me. An friend of a friend nurtured and comforted me and became a friend of mine. My sister-in-law listened and reassured me I wasn't gong crazy. My mom moved in and simplified my life immensely. A another friend offered to support me with her gifts during and after the birth. Playgroup friends showed me you can be a loving and graceful mama to more than one. Someone unexpected left a gift here or a note there. It's not easy for me to accept help but it really felt like there were angels all around supporting me when I needed it most.

All babies are miracle babies but Sol feels particularly magic to me because after all the darkness, his birth was everything we wanted and more. The moment I held him, I fell in love. It literally felt like the clouds had cleared and the sun came out.

Welcome to the world little Sol. We are overjoyed you've made it here safe and we are so blessed you joined our family.

Did you pick a name yet ?

Just like with Aiden, we hadn't picked a name at birth because we were hoping for a little inspiration from the baby. You'd think that after the experience from the last time, folks would be used to it. Not so. We'd get very curious looks anytime we mentioned the fact the baby didn't have a name yet. And we won't mention some family members who'd come up with all sorts of reasons of why we should get on with the program and come up with a name already.

So after a week of the baby being born, we finally settled on a name. We went through the same rigorous process as last time. And the winner is 'Sol Emmanuel De Souza'.

We were looking for names that meant a few different things like light, peace, wisdom etc. Sol in Portuguese and Spanish means 'Sun'. When Aiden was born, he lit up our lives like never before, and we didn't think that we'd ever experience that feeling again, but this baby has brought more light into our lives, so the name seemed apt. In Hebrew it means 'Peace'. It's also a form of Solomon who of course wrote the book on wisdom. 'Emmanuel' in Hebrew means 'God is with us'. And of course 'De Souza' is his clan name :)

Sol's pet name at home is 'Mijo'. It's a short form of 'Mi hijo' or 'My son' in Spanish. I hope he doesn't ever look it up on the Urban dictionary because I just did, and found out that in Portuguese it means 'piss' (Eu mijo na tua cabeça = I piss in your head). Must have something to do with the rivalry between those two neighbors. Why else would it be a term of endearment in one language and a bodily fluid in another that's closely related to it ? Anyway, we picked Mijo in honor of his Quita who uses it to refer to the boys in the family affectionately. Quita moved in with us to help us get through this transition and we don't know how we'd deal with it without her. We are thinking that we'll hide her suitcase when she decides to leave :(