Most Popular Baby Names

Each year, the Social Security Administration publishes a list of the top 10 boys names and the top 10 girls names. This is a good thing, because we face the dilemma of picking something cool, but not too popular, classic, but not boring, interesting, but not too weird. We better think fast, 'cause Shannon's getting big (see left).

So we generally stay away from the top 10 names...but who's to say whatever we pick won't be in the top 10 list next year?

Here's the list: http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/

If you want to play at home, I can tell you that of the top 10 boys' names and the top 10 girls' names, we only have ONE on our baby name short list -- for either gender. Can you guess which?

Another site has a Baby Name Voyager that graphs out the popularity of names over the last 100+ years...sorry, Harvey and Leona, your names haven't done so well lately. But you'll see a lot of older names that are now on an upswing. (We actually know a little boy named Augustus.)

Babyface

At the recent ultrasound trip, we got some pictures of the baby at 32 weeks. If you've never been to an ultrasound of a baby, it's a pretty amazing experience: in the third trimester, it's basically one big pro-life ad.

At our first ultrasound, the child was just over 2 centimeters long. Now, you could see it rub its hands on its face and move its feet. (Of course, Shannon didn't need an ultrasound to know it could move its feet. Our baby likes to get down.)

Here are two pictures, the first of the profile of its head, the second of its face. Shannon claims it has my nose.

99th Percentile

This blog is called "My Child Is Above Average," but now we have proof: after our trip to the ultrasound tech on Friday, we learned that our child is at the 99th percentile for size. Tickets to the 2025 Final Four, anyone?

The doctor estimated the baby's current weight at 5 lbs. 12 ozs., which means a birth weight of at least 8 lbs...or more. The average size for week 32 is 4 lbs. 6 ozs. So eat it, you average babies! Soon, you'll be getting schooled by "The Hammer"!

Open Thread on Name Suggestions

Okay, this is your place to throw out your name suggestions. We know you've got them. We've got a short list (and a long list too), but we're holding our cards pretty close to our chest.

I'm fond of a few suggestions, courtesy of my History 10 class:

Otto von Bamford
Alexander T. (The) Bamford
Darth Bamford

But I don't think any of those are going to fly with Shannon. We're open to your ideas - real names that won't get the kid beat up. Tell us what they are. (No promises that we'll pick one.)

Shannon's Belly

Everyone wants to know: is she big? I don't know. I keep saying yes, but then she gets bigger. I don't tell her that I came in at 10'2", so I think we might be in for another moose. This is Tuesday night, January 10.

Being Pregnant Is So Glamorous

Look at Shannon's feet. Iron tablets, she claims, make them orange. I think it's her lingering affection for the Dutch national soccer team.

She called the nurse, who called her OB, who called the pharmacorp, who talked to the OB, who talked to the nurse, who talked to Greg, who gave a message to Shannon. They said they've never heard of it.

But the other lady at work said the same thing happened to her. Huh.

Skiing at Hyak

Shannon's been getting some freebie massages from good old Leona (not the grandma), who is studying massage therapy at Brenneke Therapy. Best of all: she does house calls.

This got Shannon ready for going cross-country skiing. I know some people worry about safety but this is not anything dramatic - we went to the Hyak Sno-Park near Snoqualmie Summit, which is a long, straight cross-country trail. It's on an old railroad bed, part of the John Wayne Iron Horse State Trail. Conditions were marginal, but it's a day out of the house.