Life as a New Mom: Terms of Endearment [With Bonus Baby VIDEO!]

My daughter, Dolores, has many nicknames; Dolly is one of many--maybe too many...

It was a tough day yesterday. I, like so many others in Tuscaloosa and across Alabama, still have a hard time when the skies turn that ominous shade of grey. It's a sinking fear that knots the stomach and quickens the pulse. I was in the B101.7 studio while Dodo was home with her Dad (her daycare dismissed early). I spent the day worried for our listeners, our town, and most of all, my girl.

I headed home as soon as James Spann gave the "all-clear" for Tuscaloosa. (*Author's Note: James Spann is, without question, the greatest weatherman in recorded history. This is indisputable fact.) Once home, I hugged and snuggled with my sweet girl, relieved to be at our house--safe and sound. She fell asleep in my lap shortly afterward as I sang to her. I looked down at this sweet baby in my lap and couldn't think of the right words to describe what I felt. I couldn't even think of what to call her...

Dolores is named after my paternal great-grandmother. "Dolly" isn't a hat tip to the ever-fab Dolly Parton  (though in hindsight it should be); it's from a favorite Louis Armstrong song of mine. Since her birth, I have rarely called her by her full name, save for filling out some forms at our pediatrician's office and obtaining her birth certificate. However, I (like any other Southern Momma worth her salt) know a child's full name is only to be shouted prefacing major punishment; I'm sure I'll use it frequently over the next 18 years.

So she's Dolly to me and pretty much all our family... except for her Dad and I. We have an ever-expanding repertoire of nicknames for our baby. First there's "Butt-Butt," a nod to the way she sleeps like a baby turtle with her tiny rear-end pointed up in the air. Then there's Dodo and Dodie (after my maternal great-grandmother). Her Dad and I call her "Gooby" entirely too often. I am probably scarring her for life with that one, but it stuck like Gorilla Glue.

I wonder if she'll have a preferred nickname by the time she starts school. Will she like being "Dolly" in kindergarten?  Will she prefer "Lola" in high school or her full name in college? These things remain to be seen (and heard). I don't think I will care what she wants to be called as long as she's happy being called mine.

That's enough of the sentimental stuff, right? Let's lighten up the mood with a video I snapped Wednesday and meant to share yesterday... Dolores learns to crawl! That's right, CRAWL!

Am I proud? Y'all DON'T EVEN KNOW. Just look at her face: she's psyched. This is the stuff that makes me love being a Momma.