Three Years of Blogging

It's been 3 years and 1 month and 3 days since I wrote my first post on February 8, 2011. In 2012, I commemorated my first full year of blogging with a little look back (aka a blogiversary post). I didn't do that last year because I was on blogging hiatus at the time. And, at first, I didn't think it was appropriate to do this year because, frankly, there's not much to recap. Not much has happened on NSB during the past 12 months. But, that's silly. Right? It's not important how much or how little happened. I'm blogging again so I should be blogiversary-ing again!

Let's start with a quick timeline of the last year on NSB:

February 2013 - I managed two measly posts (here and here). The arrival of my daughter at the end of 2012 had, understandably, altered my free time and my priorities. Blogging took a seat in the way, way back. Ever seen the movie The Way, Way Back with Steve Carrell? It's great.

March 13, 2013 - I finally posted a "Proper Farewell" in which I admitted that I needed an official break and wouldn't be posting for a while.

December 2013 - I randomly stopped by NSB and after some perusing, realized that the This Blogger page needed some major updates. So, I updated it and posted about the update. I've since updated it again.

January 13, 2013 - My quick December post got me thinking about blogging again. When the new year hit, it felt like the write time to get back on the horse. So, I did. But, before I could really get started, I addressed the need for an update to the blog name. So, technically, Next Stop Baby is now Next Stop (Another) Baby. Though you'll notice that I still use the NSB acronym because NS(A)B doesn't flow, it doesn't.

February 7, 2013 - While I didn't write a blogiversary post, I did write a "refresher post" to remind myself and my readers what we could all expect on NSB.

FAVORITE POSTS

The most read posts on Next Stop Baby seem to be driven by pop culture - what's everyone watching on TV and at the Movies, and what's the latest trend in baby shower themes. Posts about Teen Mom 3 command three of the Top 10 favorite posts. Here's the full Top 10 list, with #1 being the most viewed post of all time.

1. Rosie Pope Said Wha...???

2. Your Burning Rosie Pope Questions

3. A Day of Celebration - Teen Mom 3

4. Baby Bears

5. How Much to Spend on a Baby Shower Gift

6. Winnie the Pooh Baby Shower, Tttttttterrific

7. Katniss is Not A Real Name

8. Teen Mom 3 - It's On

9. They're Baaaaack...

10. Owl Themed Baby Shower, Hoooo-Hoooo

Since I've been blogging again in 2014, the favorite post is The Perfect Double Stroller. This is not hugely surprising. Everyone relies on the internet for product research and reviews, so I am happy to have provided some (helpful?) info.

READERS

Readers come to NSB from varying sources on the internet - google searches (the #1 source), subscriptions (by email or by blog feed), Pinterest and Twitter and Facebook, and other blogs. Readers also come from varying places in the world - US, Canada, Poland, Germany, UK, Russia, Australia, France, Sweden, Ukraine name the Top 10 countries in order of most pageviews. I find it super interesting that non-English speaking countries rank higher than some english-speaking countries (i.e. more people in Poland read than people in Australia). The Polish People and I are kindred spirits and I dig it.

Once again, special shout out to WW who is a tried and true reader, commentor, and lover of NSB. And I am a lover of her. Did that just get a little creepy?

Meanwhile, I miss commentors like The Mrs./The Mom and Whitney M. who had previously been staples.

PLANS FOR 2014

Guest Bloggers - Haven't had a guest blogger since January 2012. Maybe it would be fun to do a follow-up with some guest bloggers to catch up and see what's changed in their baby-related worlds. 

Suburbia - I don't live in NYC anymore, which is a bummer in some ways, though a wonderful thing in many more ways. In terms of blogging, my travels on the NYC subway system and encounters with disgruntled New Yorkers provided quite a bit of fodder for NSB. Will there be a large, sewer cap sized hole in NSB's content due to my new locale? No, there won't. I can already tell you that suburban Massholes are going to provide plenty of great posts as well...stay tuned.

Baby Names - I love Nameberry.com. I peruse the website with great frequency, and probably always will. And I even exchange tweets with Nameberry here and there. BUT, I need some new name inspiration. It's time to spread my wings.

Crafting and Nursery Decor - Over the years I've made a fair amount of moodboards for nursery decorating ideas. My inspiration has been whatever is trendy. While I'll continue to do this, I'll also be moodboarding from a more personal place. I'm in the process...the very beginning of the process...of decorating my daughter's bedroom. I'm pinning like crazy (love Pinterest) and all over design/DIY blogs. I also plan to venture into crafting territory, which you got a taste of on Valentine's Day. I'm starting simple. VERY simple (as you saw).

Happy Blogiversary to me and thanks for reading. It's going to be a great year.

For other blogiversary posts click here, here and here.

The Art of Naming a Sibling

It's been over a month since my return to Next Stop Baby and, at long last, we've reached a baby name post.  Having another baby means choosing another baby name!  Happy happy joy joy!  Let's do some butt bumping a la Ren and Stimpy.

The first time you picked a name, you considered all the basics: how does it sound with your last name?  do the initials spell out something unsavory?  is it too trendy?  does it have special meaning?  The second time around, you have all these same considerations and the added consideration of whether it works with your first child's name.

Some people ignore their first child's name.  And, I get it...kind of...not really.  Okay, I don't get it, but I'm all ears if you want to try to convince me.

Let's look at a few examples of possibly problematic sibling name choices.  Baby girl number one is Aurora Moon.  Baby girl number two is Britney Amber.  You went way hippie on round one and way eighties on round two.  Another example.  Baby boy number one is William Robert.  Baby girl number two is Nevaeh Jade.  You went way classic on round one and way modern on round two.  Last example.  Baby girl number one is Olivia Jane and baby boy number two is Oliver John.  You basically chose the same name for both rounds.

While names don't create a person's identity, they do have a bit of influence.  There's actually science behind this (click here to read more), I'm not just making it up as I go.  So, if a name influences an individual, I don't think it's a huge leap to believe that the way names relate to one another between siblings also has an impact.  Perhaps the impact just adds to each sibling's individual identity or, perhaps, it also impacts the relationship between the siblings.  I'd love to hear what Bill Nye The Science Guy thinks of all this.  Maybe I'll tweet him...I hear he's pretty legit in the twittersphere.

I have no idea what the above means and not just he misspelled Italy.

If you still don't think that sibling names should relate to one another, head over to Nameberry.com and check out the "Sibling Names Forum".  That's right, there's an entire section of the website dedicated to parents who are agonizing over what to name a sibling.  Some poor parents are trying to name twins or triplets with older siblings.  Talk about your ultimate naming equation.

No need to freak out - unless you're freaking out with excitement, then by all means, get your freak on.  You will find the perfect sibling name.  You did it before and you'll do it again.  But, if you are freaking out in a bad way, just head over to Nameberry and seek the wisdom of strangers who have no stake in the matter and will pull no punches.  Seriously.  I bet you'll get some quick, real advice.  Good luck!





  

A Couple of Baby Name AHAs!

Last week, a friend (thanks B!) sent me a very cool article from iVillage about my #1 fav topic - baby names.  The article (here) lists ten categories of baby names (think places, spiritual, antique, etc.) and what choosing a name from each category says about the parent.  For example, parents who choose places as names (i.e. Brooklyn, London, Paris, etc.) envision their child in the limelight.   There's probably definitely no scientific research behind the assertions, but I thoroughly enjoyed them.

This short, sweet article, beyond providing some entertainment, provided two serious AHA! moments for me.  For those of you who don't know what an AHA! moment is, shame on you and I'll explain.  It's Oprah's term for an epiphany.  She made it up and I think it's now in the dictionary or at least the urban dictionary.  It's AHA! as in "I get it!", which is literally how Oprah defines it in her video explanation below.  So strange that this video exists on Youtube.

My first AHA! moment inspired by the iVillage article was the realization that my theory on uniqueness being the single most important factor in choosing a baby name (remember this post?) is not true.  Well, it's not true for everyone.  People have many reasons for choosing their perfect baby name, many of which are totally unrelated to uniqueness.  Aha!  There's more than one end goal for finding the perfect baby name and there's more than one path to get there.

Here are the categories of names listing in the iVillage article:

• Place Names
• Religious Names
• Vintage Names
• Nature Names
• Political Names
• Celebrity Driven Names
• Pop-Culture Inspired Names
• Ethnic Names
• Family Names
• Really Unique Names - this is my category, right?

Here's the other, more significant AHA! - I don't prioritize uniqueness in my baby name preferences.  I don't fall into the "really unique names" category.  What's that?!  Hold up now...

The article, understandably, listed names like Apple and Pilot Inspektor as really unique names.  I don't like either as I've previously mentioned (here).  There both a bit too out there for me.  Too unique.  On the other hand, I'm don't like Isabella or Jacob (the most popular names of 2011).  They're too common for me.  Not unique enough.  But, here is where the AHA! really hit home, if I'm forced between Jacob and Pilot Inspektor, I'm going with Jacob.  Turns out that uniqueness is more of a secondary concern for me.  I know, I'm baffled too. 

This double AHA! left me totally confused about what type of baby namer I am.  For a woman who's written about baby names several dozen times, this was concerning.  I was suddenly without a baby name identity.

Don't feel too bad for me...pretty confident you didn't...all that happened was a daily trip over to Nameberry.com to search around and rediscover who I am.  The process was quite quick and here are the results: my taste is vintage, classic and traditional with consideration (not absolute prioritization) of how popular the name is according to the SSN website.

What type of baby names do you like?  Any of the categories listed by iVillage?  Maybe you're a mesh of more than one or fall into a category overlooked by iVillage?

You Wanna Name Your Kid What?!!!

Choosing a baby name is truly the first act of parenting.  Well, for those that sit on the birth certificate for a few days unable to decide, maybe not.  Even so, it's at least one of the first acts of parenting. 

It's a choice that has become slightly more complicated over the years.  A hundred years ago the pool of commonly used names was relatively small and parents were, generally, less creative in their choice.  Nowadays, there are many, many, many commonly used names and parents are inspired to make unique choices.  Why the change?  My guess it twofold.  First, the world is becoming smaller thanks to travel and technology, so we're sharing and comparing naming ideas like never before.  Second, being unique is a modern and highly coveted characteristic.  We want to be unique (by choosing a rare name) and we want our children to be unique (by being named something less common).

I'm a modern lady and a fan of interesting names.  I like names that make me pause and consider, like Jessica Simpson's Maxwell and Alicia Silverstone's Bear.  But, once in a while, even I can be thrown by a name choice and find myself feeling judgy.

Who felt judgy watching this video?

Last week I was checking out Nameberry.com as I often do and noticed the following "Names Searched Right Now": Whizdom and Tequila.  I probably don't need to explain why I felt judgy toward both of these names, but I will anyway. 

Part of my problem with Whizdom is that I can't stand unnecessarily strange spellings of commonly use names (and words).  Especially if you're choosing a rare name, go with the least rare spelling.  That's my 2 cents.  Of course my other problem with Whizdom is that, regardless of the spelling, it's a self-important.  Typically, I love names that are nouns (i.e. Violet, Hunter).  But I also hate braggers (more on that here).  Choosing a name like Wisdom...or Whizdom...forces the child to live up to the parent's ego or suffer trying.  

Next up, Tequila.  Tequila happens to be my favorite alcohol, but I don't appreciate it as a name.  I wouldn't appreciate a child named Bourbon or Rum or Vodka either.  Whiskey might be a cool name for a rockstar, but you can't really plan for these things at birth.  I just think it would be hard to take someone seriously if she introduced herself as Tequila.  "Hi, I'm Tequila Smith, your daughter's 3rd grade teacher."  Hmmm...

Reasonable minds may certainly differ.  I don't doubt that some people think Whizdom and Tequila are fantastic names.  I bet there's someone out there that thinks alcoholic beverage baby names should be the next big trend.  So, maybe it's all just a matter of opinion.  Or is it?  Are there any names that are just universally wrong?

I'm Kinda Psychic

Last week, I posted the Top 10 baby names (boy and girl).  Earlier this week, I summarized my deep thoughts on all the apparent trends revealed in the 2011 list.  Today, I'm revisiting predictions that I made last year and deciding whether I should quit my day job and become a full time psychic. 

I'm not sure I can handle the psychic uniform

Last year I posted 3 times (here, here and here) about my predictions of the hot name trends that were marking 2011.  My predictions were based on zero science.  I was just frequenting Nameberry and other baby name websites, and paying attention to naming trends amongst my peers.  My overarching theory was twofold.  First, traditional, century old names were hotter than ever (think Charlotte and Benjamin).  Second, non-traditional, modern names were hotter than ever (think Hudson and Skye).  These two extremes were simultaneously at work through most of last year.  The common, middle of the road names, like Jessica and Jeremy, were out of favor.  And yes, this wasn't rocket science - these trends have been hot for some time now.

With these theories in mind and considering some important pop-culture phenoms, I developed a list of  names that I thought would be big in the 2011 SSA results.  Turns out, I was pretty damn accurate.  Well, I was fairly damn accurate.

For the girls, none of the names I predicted lost popularity.  Nice.  For the boys, I wasn't as on point.  Two of my boy name predictions (Harry and Kyron) fell in popularity.  For both boy and girl names, a few of my predictions didn't even make the Top 1,000 list.  My humble belief for those names is that I'm just ahead of the curve.  Check out the details below:

GIRLS

• Adele – up 282 spots from 909 to 627
• Adelina – up 25 spots from 910 to 885
• Azalea – still not breaking the top 1000 (never has)
• Avery – up 5 spots from 23 to 18
• Dahlia – up 109 spots from 647 to 583
• Daphne – up 38 spots from 488 to 450
• Emery – up 40 spots from 312 to 272
• Finn – still not breaking the top 1000 (never has)
• Frankie – still not breaking top 1,000 (last on list in 1974)
• Joey – still not breaking top 1,000 (last on list in 1970)
• Marilyn – up 2 spots from 547 to 545
• Philippa – still not breaking the top 1000 (never has)
• Pippa – still not breaking the top 1000 (never has)
• Primrose – still not breaking the top 1000 (never has)

BOYS

• August – up 29 spots from 427 to 398
• Brayden – up 3 spots from 40 to 37
• Everett – up 30 spots from 287 to 257
• Grayson – up 25 spots from 122 to 97
• Harry – DOWN 58 spots from 658 to 709
• Henry – up 10 spots from 67 to 57
• Kyron – DOWN 60 from 824 to 884
• Wallace – still not breaking the top 1000 (last on list in 1993)

At some point in the next month or so I should once again pull together predictions, seeing that I'm so good at it.  Have you noticed any particular names or name trends picking up traction this year?

Stuff People Google 40

Baby names are a prevalent NSB topic.  I love looking at baby name websites and blogs.  I love discussing baby names with friends.  I love stalking celebrity baby name choices.  I love all things baby name related.  And so, today, not only am I posting a phrase that someone googled, but I'm also taking the liberty of responding to the phrase (it's a question).

is manee a guy or girl name 

Manee isn't a name, if you're defining "name" as a word that is listed on the social security administration website (as a name) or a word that is listed on nameberry.com (as a name).  Both the SSA website and Nameberry are about as comprehensive as it gets in the lovely world of baby names.  But, if you love Manee, here are a few name suggestions that are on those websites, all of which Manee could be used as a nickname:

Boy Names

Manuel

Emmanuel

Girl Names

Manuela

Manuelle

Emmanuella

The only "Manee" I know (not personally) is Manny Ramirez.  I'm assuming that "Manee" would be pronounced the same as "Manny".  FYI, Manny Ramirez's full first name is Manuel. 

Manuel "Manny" Aristides Ramirez Onelcida
image here

I'm all for choosing the name that you like, regardless if it's a name as defined in this post or if it has an unusual spelling.  Your baby, your name choice.  Period.  But, in this specific case, if a person is digging the name Manee...perhaps going with Manny would be a better choice?  For me, "Manee" is too close to manatee and that's not an awesome name reference. 

This is a manatee
image here

   

Goodbye Katniss and Seraphina

I popped by Nameberry last week as part of my weekly (and sometimes daily) ritual.  Shock.  For the first time in a very, very long time neither Seraphina nor Katniss were listed in "Today's Most Popular Names".  What?  WHAT?!!  For the better half of 2011 both Seraphina and Katniss were listed every single day, all day long, without fail.  But on February 8, 2012 at approximately 2:54 p.m., neither were listed.

Had the queens been dethroned?  Well, not quite.  I went back to Nameberry over the weekend and there she was, Katniss, not giving up so quickly.  Seraphina, however, was still missing.

Here is what the "Today's Most Popular Names" section of Nameberry looked like for most of 2011.  This screenshot is from a post I wrote in the beginning of November 2011 (here).  Notice the prominence of both Katniss and Seraphina.  The size of each name indicates how many people are searching it (bigger size = more people), pink is for girl names and blue is for boy names (if that wasn't obvious).

Here is what the "Today's Most Popular Names" looked like this past weekend.  Small Katniss, NO Seraphina.

BUT WAIT, this is what it looked like just a couple hours later.  NO Katniss, small Seraphina.

And another couple hours later...

Why was I stalking Nameberry this past weekend and why am I giving you the play by play?  I want a record.  I want visual proof that the times, they are a changin'.  This is clear indicator that the next wave of baby name trends is almost upon us.  I'm guessing there will be a resurgence of Katniss when the first Hunger Games movie comes out in a little over a month, but the "it" factor is no longer.

So what are the new "it" names?   I spent a great deal of 2011 predicting what they would be (here, here and here).  Now that it's 2012, we don't have to guess anymore.  There are proof points all around us.  Unfortunately, the only thing proven by Namberry this weekend is that Seraphina and Katniss are on the way out, I didn't see any clear names or trends that are on the way in.  The three babies born into my (extended) circle of friends since the new year are a baby boy named Luc, a baby girl named Peyton and a baby girl named Penelope.  Not enough material to show a trend.

Celebritywise, here is the latest for 2012:

BOYS

Exton Elias (son of Robert Downey Jr.)

James Timothy (son of Danny Pudi)

Micah Emmanuel (son of Sarah Drew)

Jonah Christopher (son of Jo Dee Messina)

GIRLS

Elliotte Anne (daughter of Marla Sokoloff)

Maxwell Lue (daughter of Lindsay Sloane)

Kaya Emory (daughter of Lindsay Davenport)

Fiona Lee (daughter of Danny Pudi)

Beatrice Jean (daughter of Bryce Dallas Howard)

Romy Hero (daughter of Aaron Johnson)

Blue Ivy (daughter of Beyonce and Jay-Z)

Willa Lou (daughter of Keri Russell)

Sebella Rose (daughter of Roselyn Sanchez)

The only trend I spot is amongst the girls: the middle names Lue, Lee and Lou are nearly identical.  Hmmm.  It's a kickback to the 1920s/1930s South?  

What names and names trends are you noticing?  What have the babies in your life been named?  What names are your pregnant friends pondering?  

PS - Happy Valentine's Day!  Here's to hoping you find yourself in the presence of dark chocolate and champagne by the day's end.