Age = 22 days

Linus

My starting point for picking a name was a preference for names that are uncommon but not too weird or difficult to spell. I also wanted to avoid a name that would open a child up to excessive teasing, but I also figure that if someone’s going to pick on you, they’ll find something to attack regardless of your name.

My next consideration was wanting a name with meaning to me and Bob, which meant using a name from one (or more) of:

• Classical (Greek/Roman) Mythology: This is subject I’m quite interested in, and a source of lots of interesting names and characters.
• Astronomy: Bob and I are both (very casually) interested in astronomy, so a name with astronomical significance is appealing, with the added bonus that given that many astronomical objects are named after figures from – you guessed it – classical mythology.
• Family: It would be a bonus to find a name we liked that is already present in the family tree somewhere (preferably a direct ancestor).

In hunting through the men, gods and demi-gods from the realm of classics, I really struggled to find any names I’d burden a kid with these days. With choices like “Agamemnon”, “Odysseus”, and “Uranus”, I was thrilled when I discovered that “Linus” was the name of a couple of minor players in the Greek pantheon.

In addition to the classical origin, “Linus” had some other attractions. It is the name of the creator of Linux, a piece of software that Bob is becoming proficient at; it looks similar to “Linda”, but without sounding similar enough to be confusing; it met the criteria of being unusual but not weird (by my standards, anyway); and it is the name of a Peanuts comics character who had a blankie, just like I did as a child (well, mine was a “Cuddles”, but close enough!). (His aunty’s nickname is also “Snoopy”.)

And after Linus was born, my uncle was kind enough to send me a link to the “Linus” entry in Wikipedia. On reading this I was pleased to discover that Linus was also the name of an astronomical body – that was the icing on the cake!

Robert

It’s fairly obvious where this name comes from – it’s Linus’s daddy’s name! Although Bob chose to be called “Bob” rather than “Robert”, he doesn’t really dislike the name, and it’s nice that Linus’s name contains his father’s name (especially since their last names aren’t the same).

Brown

We decided fairly early on that we didn’t like double-barrelled names, so we would have to choose between “Brown” and “Patterson” as Linus’s last name (since although Bob and I are married, I’ve kept my last name). We also wanted whatever name we didn’t choose to still be referenced in our children’s names (any future children will probably be named that same way, i.e. with “Brown” as a second middle name and “Patterson” as a last name).

It’s a little unusual to have “Brown” as a middle name, but looking back through old family trees reveals that it is in fact very common for children to receive a family surname (most commonly their mother’s maiden name) as a middle name.

Patterson

A couple of weeks before Linus arrived I left Bob with the choice to either give the baby “Patterson” as a last name or leaving it as a 50/50 (e.g. tossing a coin). This “choice” is obviously biased towards my preference, but Bob acknowledged that giving our child my last name was more important to me than passing on his last name was to Bob.

The decision itself was made within an hour of Linus being born. I simply asked Bob “what’s his last name?”, and he said “Patterson”. I don’t know if he was too overcome with emotion to think straight, or if he was super-impressed by what he’d just seen me push out, but he said “Patterson” without a pause and I didn’t see any reason to argue!

“Bug”

“Bug” was Linus’s name in-utero. The original reason for this was that A) he was making me feel unwell, so he was my “tummy bug”, and B) “Bug” was a nickname of Bob’s briefly in England when we were staying with our friend UK Bob and were trying to avoid confusion.

There were extra reasons that “Bug” stuck as the in-utero name. It was cute sounding (“cute as a bug’s ear”; “snug as a bug in a rug”); it was short (like any good nickname); and it was gender-neutral.

We discovered another “explanation” for his name just a few weeks before he was born: my family had apparently “known” for a while that “Bug” was chosen because it meant “Baby of Unknown Gender”. We were very impressed when we heard this explanation, but we can’t take credit for thinking of it, and have no idea who did!

Age = 22 days

Ok, so not his first actual cry, but over the past few days I’ve suspected that the boy was starting to cry real tears, and this evening I confirmed it: my lips were kissing his face to comfort him (or possibly me?), and they came away wet and salty. His power to wrench his parents’ hearts probably just increased tenfold!

Age = 21 days

Yesterday was our first trip out in true public, and the day turned out to be longer than I’d expected, thanks to my good baby, my handy sling, and Linus’s very helpful Nana.

Lunch

We started with meeting my friend Ange and Nana. My screaming son put me off going to an intimate little cafe for lunch (and put me off using the sling), so we headed for a (yuck!) food court where I figured having a screeching child would make me less uncomfortable. As it turned out, I needn’t have worried – the movement of me walking him a few blocks to the mall put him to sleep, and he stayed that way the entire time we were eating.

Ange and I had a nice chat, while Nana twisted and writhed in her chair, trying desperately to spot anyone she knew to show off her grandson to. Ange got to have a hold of Linus, but unfortunately missed out on seeing an alert, eyes-open period. Ah well, plenty of time for that!

Shopping

After saying goodbye to Ange, we headed out to The Warehouse. Linus had worked up to a bit of a grizzle by this stage, so we parked here for a while and gave him a feed. (Nana also whipped out a couple of new pairs of booties for him, so of course he had to model those for us as well.) When we were done, Nana quickly sussed out the sling, and carried Linus around the shop in it quite happily, while I got to enjoy doing some clothes shopping.

Next stop was the supermarket so Nana could show off her grandson to all her colleagues (and any interested strangers), and to give Aunty Claire a brief glimpse of him as well. Again, I got to do some shopping without Bug, and he slept on blissfully ignorant of being the centre of attention!

It was quite a treat to do the groceries and wrangle a shopping trolley in my newly non-pregnant state, although on the flip side it was odd to be in public without my baby (in my tummy or my arms) and not feel “special” anymore.

(I also spotted another woman in the supermarket with a sling. I suspect this isn’t the first time I’ve seen one, but it’s the first time I’ve noticed one – maybe I’ve seen them in the past and not known what they were. If the sling contains a young baby, you can’t see them at all.)

Visiting

We had time to kill, and a still-sleeping baby meant there was no hurry to get home, so we popped in on a family friend, Ingrid, who hadn’t met Linus yet. She enjoyed holding him, and I enjoyed seeing her two boys (and getting a bit nervous about what I’ve got to look forward to). It was nice to be around a Mum who knows a lot more than me about bringing up baby boys.

Home

Nana and I parted company after leaving Ingrid’s, and I went into town to pick Dad up. I hung with him and his colleagues for a while carrying Bug in the sling, and felt very comfortable. He was sleeping soundly, and I was able to walk around almost like normal, with only a slightly sore shoulder/back (I have to watch my posture!). I think it’s also an added bonus – in a bit of a mean way! – that the baby is completely hidden from view. It means people aren’t as likely to ooh and ahh and disturb him when he’s settled.

All in all it was a very successful day out, and gave me a lot of confidence. There are still more hurdles to go: eating in a small cafe; doing it all alone without my Mum to help out with an extra pair of hands (and shoulders); feeding in public; and finding somewhere to change him. But this was enough for one week for a new Mummy�

Age = 20 days

I’m reluctant to call this a “first”. That implies there will be others.

We learned very early on that a little boy can pee on:

• himself
• his clean clothes
• his dry nappy
• his parent(s)
• any combination of the above

if we don’t cover him with something mid-change.

Today at lunchtime Linus and I have our second-ever excursion planned: a trip to town to have lunch with my friend and Mum. Naturally I’m very prepared, already dressed in nice clothes (for the first time in weeks!) with Linus in an angelic wee outfit.

And my brilliant son managed to choose this morning to further my education, this time about his previously secret ability to projectile poo. The future marksman managed to hit my cute, clean, post-pregnancy jeans expertly, and even managed to spare a little for his bedroom carpet.

If only we could harness his powers for good instead of evil!

Age = 19 days

Last night Linus had trouble sleeping in his cot. He was crying when we put him down, in spite having been fed, changed, and burped. We decided to just let him cry for a bit (with me beside him singing/talking to him with my hand on his chest) to see if he’d calm down eventually, and he did after about 3 minutes – but not for long.

I noticed that his hands were flailing about a bit. I’d tried to wrap him (this is how he normally sleeps) earlier, but it had got him so upset and worked up I thought I’d try leaving him unwrapped. Now after his failure to settle down in the cot and the hyperactive arms, I decided wrapping was worth another try! After all, it seemed like he was going to be grizzling in either case, so it was worth a shot.

I got him out, held both his arms forcefully down at his sides, and wrapped him super-tightly. He didn’t like it one bit. But what do you know? When the wrapping was finished, he quietened down almost immediately. And when he was in bed, he settled and went to sleep almost immediately.

Magic.

And lesson learned.