Now that things are picking up around here, I feel like I should take a moment to introduce you to some of the major players. First, of course, is my wife without whom there wouldn’t be a baby and I wouldn’t have much to write about. Next there’s the star of the show, Macallister, commonly referred to as Mac. He’s also affectionately called Mackey or Mac-a-million by his day care friends.

Then there are the Grandparents. We are very fortunate to have both sets of Mac’s grandparents here in the Twin Cities to shower us with their love and support. Mac is a lucky little man, as are his parents.

Right away my mom made it known that she would like to be called “Oma.” I’d never heard of Oma but as my mom explained, it means Grandmother in German. This was a way for her to involve her German heritage, and at the same time Oma would be easy for Mac to learn. Oma has definitely stuck as a great nickname for my mom.

My dad goes by Papa Paul. At first, I wasn’t sure if he picked this name or if my mom chose it for him and he’s just really good at picking his battles. (I’ve since come to find that he picked it, he prefers it, so that’s what it is!) I’m curious to see how Mac pronounces Papa Paul.

My Father-in-law went the longest without having a nickname, well after the little man arrived. One day I returned home from work to find out that he was now “Beepa.” I witnessed him and my son, now nicknamed “Beepers” playing a really fun game. Grandpa Beepa would push his finger to the little guy’s nose and say “Beep!” It seems like a silly game, but the smile and laughter that followed from my son was incredible. Mac loved it and Beepa and Beepers it was.

And finally, there is my mother-in-law. She had also picked a name for Mac to call her, although, to this day I’m not exactly sure where if came from. She suggested she could be called “Momo.” I’m guessing because this too would be something that could be fairly easy for him to say. I had made a point to try to uncover the exact reason why she chose this name. I told her we couldn’t have our baby call her Momo if she couldn’t explain to us why! Looking back on it, I was probably a little hard on my wife’s mom about this. I realize that she too just wanted an easy nickname for herself. Mac isn’t saying names as of yet, but I’m going make sure Momo one of the first words he will learn. After Mommy, Daddy and Baseball of course.

Mac and his Grandparents!