How Baby Backup Got Her Name

As I have been asked quite a few times lately, I thought I had better take a break from camping stories (we have the lost shoe story, Jr’s story, getting home all left for sure) and explain to everyone how Baby Backup got her name.

Backup is the first baby born in our family after all our boys. My sister and brother in law found out what they were having, agonized like all couples over the name, and then named her a wonderful old fashioned name, one of my husband’s favorite girl names. Her middle name honors my mother and I both.

When I told the boys her name, S3 and S4 could not pronounce it, not for anything in the world. It came out “Back up” and as she was a little itty bitty baby, she became Baby Backup.

Because the name sounded so hilarious, because the boys were saying it all the time, because it sounded like we just kept a back up baby around here for the boys to see once in awhile, we kept the nickname.

The boys can pronounce her name now, but rarely do they use it. We normally just call her by her nick name, and it’s only cuz we love her….and she can’t stop us!

It’s the most fun to be out and about with her and here the boys call for her.
When we were camping (oh look, this IS a camping story!) S4 (who my husband calls Big Baby), did not take kindly to Backup playing with his toys or eating his cheese puffs. He would cram all his toys in his arms so she wouldn’t play with them. Towards the end of the week, he shared much better, even letting her (gasp!) play with his beloved Thomas (but never his CARS). The thing is, S4 is also always trying to be sweet to her, she is a baby and he has always been the baby so this is cool for him to be the oldest. It’s so funny to hear him take this sweet, high pitched voice to explain something to her.
When we went to the beach, Backup discovered the boys Tonka trucks and just fell in love with them. On one occasion, the boys put her in one of the trucks and RAN her from the vehicle all the way to the beach. They were careful with all bumps and she grinned like a crazy baby the whole time. By the time they arrived to the beach long before all us moms loaded down with food and towels and spf 50, they had the attention of everyone else at the beach. It’s hard to miss S4’s siren voice, or the fact that they were all saying “wasn’t that fun, Baby Backup?”