May 27, 2008
Alden's New Name
I've already covered the legendary origins of Alden's name elsewhere on these pages, but today I'm happy to report that she has been given her Japanese name by Grandma Seiko. The "L" sound in "Alden" is particularly challenging for Japanese-speaking folks (it might come out sounding something like "ah-rue-den"), and so Seiko has coined "A-chan" (prounounced "aah-chan," with the stress on the first syllable) as a Japanese-friendly alternative. I happen to like the sound of it quite a bit, and any of you who would like may use it in addressing or referring to the child.
In other news, Robbi drove across the bay with Alden a week or so ago to spend the afternoon with Emily who was at the time on doctor-mandated bed rest during her last week of pregnancy. Emily practiced basic baby-care mom tasks like changing Alden and comforting her quietly.
When Christian came home from work, he practiced basic baby-care dad tasks like riling up the baby and teaching her how to yell.
Aware of the importance of Alden's 1/4 Japanese identity, Christian and Emily searched high and low for apparel that would adequately communicate Alden's complex mixture of pride at being partially Japanese and wistful regret at not being somewhat more so.
Here's a closer look at A-chan in her new duds.
Thanks guys!
Posted by bogenamp at May 27, 2008 08:49 PM