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Connecting You to the Best Baby Sites on the Web today!

Best Baby Sites - Connecting YOU to the Best Baby Sites.

FEBRUARY 2005

Here is what you'll see in this issue of MyBabyConnection.com Newsletter

1. New Product Arrivals & Feature Products
2. Article: Rules of Thumb for Choosing Your Baby's Name
3. Hot Sites to See!
4. Motherhood Quotes- featuring famous quotes from Presidents

Please support our sponsors above. MyBabyConnection.com would like to
thank them for allowing this monthly newsletter to be free of charge for
all subscribers!

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*BRAND NEW PRODUCT ARRIVALS*
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**FEATURED PRODUCTS***
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RULES OF THUMB FOR CHOOSINGA BABY NAME
By Laura Wattenberg

>From Aaliyah to Zvi, the range of name choices is dazzling. If you're a
sleepless parent-to-be, it can look like a vast landscape with no
roadmap. To make sure you keep your bearings, here are some basic
principles for understanding names -- and finding that one perfect name
that speaks to your heart.

Rule #1: Personal taste isn't so personal
Not long ago, I heard an expectant mother beside herself with outrage.
She had just learned that another woman in her small town had "stolen"
her baby name! No, she admitted, she had never met the woman. But for
years now she had been planning to name a baby Keaton, a name she had
personally invented, and now there was another little Keaton right
across town. Someone must have told that other mother her own secret,
special name. Thief!

Chances are this was not really a case of name larceny. That mom had
just run into a startling fact of baby name life: our tastes, which feel
so personal, are communal creations. Keaton? Well, it's a surname ending
in n, a style parents are flocking to for fresh ideas that sound like
classic names. K in particular is a hot first letter. And don't forget
that almost every parent today grew up watching Alex Keaton on "Family
Ties." So just like that outraged mom, thousands of parents across the
country have independently "invented" the name for their kids.

We live in a shared culture with common experiences that shape our likes
and dislikes. That means overlapping tastes -- and as a rule, the closer
two people are, the greater the overlap. Many of us have had a
long-cherished name "stolen" by friends who had long cherished it
themselves. It's frankly unnerving to discover that the quirky name
you've always just happened to like is now a chart topper. What ever
happened to individual style?

Before you panic and name your son Aloysius, remember that communal
taste is really a good thing. That shared perspective is exactly what
gives names their style and nuance. It's also the context that lets you
define your own style, meaningfully. Use the backdrop of your social
group, your community and your generation to choose names that make the
kind of statement you're looking for. And if you do meet another Keaton,
take it as a positive sign that your son will be fashionable. Parents
are the ones who worry about a name standing out; kids are happy to fit
in.

Rule #2: All last names are not created equal
I can see a runway model wearing a sheath dress that's so gorgeous I
could just melt looking at it. But I know perfectly well that the same
dress on my real-world figure would be a train wreck. Similarly, I know
that the stylish Irish name Kennedy, paired with my last name
Wattenberg, would sound like someone falling down stairs.

In names as in clothes, the key is to choose the styles that flatter
you. Run down this basic checklist before you make your final choice.
Length and rhythm: Sullivan and Flanagan match in style, but Sullivan
Flanagan is a red-flag name. Watch out for sing-song rhythms and tongue
twisters.

The "Justin Case" Syndrome: A perfectly reasonable first name can meet a
perfectly reasonable last name and create something perfectly
ridiculous. When you have a candidate picked out, say the full name out
loud repeatedly to look for hidden landmines. Include nicknames, too --
Benjamin Dover is one thing, Ben Dover quite another.

Meeting in the middle: Look carefully where the end of one name meets
the beginning of another. Jonas Sanders will be heard as Jonah Sanders
or Jonas Anders. Alexander Anderson sounds like a stutter.
Special cases: If your last name is a common word, it's especially
important to avoid alliteration. Jenny Jumps and Walter Wall sound like
characters from a children's picture book. If your last name is a common
first name, take special care to choose first names that won't make you
sound inside-out. Nicholson Thomas, for instance, is asking for trouble.
And if your last name just is trouble (Rump, Hogg, etc.), you can use
the rhythm of a long, rolling first name to draw the emphasis away from
it.

Rule #3: All naming is local
Popularity rankings are useful, but to understand your real-world name
environment you should look around your own neighborhood. America is a
big, diverse country, with many different name trends operating at once.
Money, geography, ethnicity, and education all swirl together to form
"microclimates" of style, with local spikes in the use of particular
names.

You can look up Oliver and say, "Ah, popularity rank #267, I won't meet
many Olivers." But if your friends have kids named Julius, Lucy and
Charlotte, you should expect to see Olivers on your block. Not to say
that's a bad thing. In that kind of community Oliver won't risk teasing,
whereas he might find it rough going in a sea of Kaydens and Madisyns.

Rule #4: Other people's opinions matter
As a parent, the choice of a baby name is entirely up to you. Why should
you listen to what anybody else has to say, let alone your crazy friends
and relatives?

Some food for thought: the choice may be yours, but you are making it
for someone else. You are just a trustee in this matter, assigned to
handle the affairs of another person who is unable to act because he or
she has not yet been born. And those crazy friends and relatives? They
are going to be your baby's friends and relatives before long. Don't let
them bully you, but don't completely ignore them, either. As a group,
they represent the society that's going to be hearing, and judging, your
child's name for a lifetime.

You don't have to flag down every passing car to ask for opinions, but
it's worth choosing a few level-headed confidantes to air out your
ideas. They might just spot something you missed -- the new Muppet with
the same name, or the obscene meaning of the name in French. You can
always swear them to secrecy afterwards, and they'll be tickled to be in
on the surprise.

Rule #5: Choose the name you would like to have yourself
This is the top piece of advice I give expectant parents. We all have
many factors in mind when we choose a name. We may want to honor our
relatives, or our ethnic heritage. We may see baby naming as an
opportunity for personal expression. Use whatever criteria you like to
narrow down your name choices, but before you fill in the birth
certificate, stop and give the name this final test: if you were
starting life today, knowing everything you know about the world, is
this the name you would want to represent you? If so, you can feel
confident that you're giving your child the best birthday present
possible, one that will last a lifetime.

Copyright � 2005 Laura Wattenberg
Author:Laura Wattenberg is the author of The Baby Name Wizard: A Magical
Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby (Published by
Broadway; February 2005; $12.95US/$17.95CAN; 0-7679-1752-9). A writer,
researcher, and software designer, she developed the Wizard's
name-finding techniques after becoming frustrated in her search for
names for her two daughters. She lives outside of Boston.

For more information, please visit the author's Web site at
http://www.babynamewizard.com

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*HOT SITES TO SEE*
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Lisa's Baby Bootie Boutique - http://www.lisasbabybootieboutique.net

More 4 Kids - http://www.more4kids.com

Royal Mail-in Pageants - http://www.missroyalstar.com

Back from Bali - http://www.backfrombali.com

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MOTHERHOOD QUOTES
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Since PRESIDENT'S DAY is Monday, February 21, we wanted to SALUTE our
past presidents, by sharing their famous quotes about their mothers.
You never know your baby may grow up and be our president someday :)

"All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother"
-Abraham Lincoln

"My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my
mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual
and physical education I received from her"
-George Washington

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March 2005 will be the Next Drawing for Prizes below:

   FREE $10 WALMART GIFT CERTIFICATE FOR DIAPERS
   FREE CHILD DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM from MyLittleSteps.com
   FREE $20 GIFT CERTIFICATE from MyMiracleBaby
   FREE BABY SONGS VIDEO from BabySongs.com
   FREE PERSONALIZED INFANT RECOGNITION VIDEO from InfantRecognition.com

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Michelle Floyd
www.MyBabyConnection.com
Connecting YOU to the Best Baby Sites on the web!