Philo the Newborn

This baby was not easy to name.  It was an arduous process but I feel very happy with the name we chose for this sweet boy.

While I was pregnant Hush and I added names to our ever growing list which now contains upwards of thirty names for girls and nearly as many for boys. Since you're curious here's a sampling. Many of the names on these lists are crazy and unusable but I like to swing wide and then cull the herd.  Also, my husband and I are both fairly free spirits and have to weigh our weirdness against our baby's entire lifetime of owning that name.

I thought we had narrowed it down somewhat, or at least we tried to in the weeks prior to the baby's birth but we were still not quite in agreement. 

Hush's top choices at the end were Franklin (after Grateful Dead album Franklin's Tower) and Townes (after VanSant). Mine were Hugo, Nico and Felix.

Philo was first suggested by my cousin Anna who was attending the birth.  But it was suggested during transition and was thus on the transition names list:

I really wanted to use an ending in O name because I like how it fits in with the other children's names. So we came up with the window list:

Tito was a joke.  You can see Apollo, Thoreau, Winslow, Arlo, Oslo, Gus all got nixed. 

I find that my babies usually name themselves in the middle of the night at the hospital. I reach over to pick them up in twilight sleep and discover that I'm calling them by what will eventually end up being their names. And this baby was Philo.  This time I tried to repress it because I was not quite comfortable with Philo. That name had been suggested late in the game and I didn't feel confident that I could make a life long choice while hopped up on pain meds and hormones.  So I resisted and tried to call him Hugo.

But the kid's name is Philo. It sounds like high/low and achieves nearly all of my requirements for a name: it's unusual but definitely a real name, it's a Shakespeare name (minor character in Antony and Cleopatra), all the other Philo's are accomplished (Philo Farnsworth invented the TV and is from Salt Lake, there are a bunch of attorneys and politicians named Philo, Philo of Alexandria was an Ancient Greek Philosopher), I've never met another Philo, the name itself means Love, and it's a nod to my little brother Phil.  I think we nailed it. 

Philo's middle names are Calvin and Clark: Calvin for Hush's Brother in Law who is an excellent human, and for Calvin and Hobbes and all the other great Calvins.  I would have considered Calvin as a first name but that it breaks my "no two syllable boy names ending in N" which wipes out nearly half of all naming options. Clark is Hush's middle name and a family name on his side.

It should be noted that none of the naming was accomplished in the hospital. We left without a name and called the birth certificate people back when we were sure.  I still mourn the name Hugo but it doesn't actually suit him anyway.

Baby Philo is the most perfect newborn in the history of newborns. He's sleepy and hungry at all the right times.  Though he's tongue tied he is my best nurser (more on that miracle later).  He's adored by every one of us and I use holding him as a reward for little jobs done.

I don't know how this perfectly developed little guy was three weeks early. He was 7 lbs 8 oz, had no breathing problems, no fuzz, no problems. And he's got meat on his bones and chubby cheeks! I can't imagine what he'd be like had he come on his due date.

I think if I were to put newborn Philo side by side with newborn LouLou I wouldn't be able to tell them apart.

A rare eyes open moment.

My five kids. That's a lot of kids.

In baby Abe's outfit.  I brought most of the 0-3 month boy clothes with me from CA last time and had boys, girls and neutral clothes ready to go.  

My mom went through a hat knitting phase so we have a collection of thick woolen hats.

For reference to show how little he is.

But also fairly chubby.

If Lou was Mimi's baby then Philo is Jude's.  He's really good at newborns and can sit for hours snuggling them.

Father and baby son. Hush says he likes being the father of a new baby boy. He says it's just different but does not extrapolate.

Tiny leggies! 

Camille came to visit and bought Philo some tiny guy clothes. 

I think he looks a little bit like Silas.

First bath. Silas is also in love with Philo and smothers him with affection in slightly  dangerous ways.

This outfit fits. 

Philo's birthday cake. Family tradition to have a cake when new babies arrive.

We spent a solid twenty minutes trying to catch the elusive unintentional sleep smile.

Baby Thug life.

Did I mention I'm still absolutely shocked that he is a boy?  We are still throwing around the wrong pronouns.  I guess I thought it was a girl for most of the pregnancy. But my little boys steal my heart and I'm so glad he's a he!