Nicknames for My Little Ones

Here are nicknames for the babies that we’ve had since they were born. The person who coined or called them that name is in parentheses.


J u l i a

One Sock Off (Papa) - Papa has a penchant for removing one of Julia’s socks and then claiming she did it. Her nickname also sounds like Mark’s last name.


If you look carefully you'll see a foot without a sock.

Butternut Squash (Papa) - Because I’m my dad’s Punkin, he has decided that Julia is his Butternut Squash, and her daughter one day will be called Zucchini.

Julia the Dentist (me?, Grandma?) - Like James she loves playing with our faces, particularly our teeth. However, unlike James she isn’t particularly gentle and will attack our mouths and let out a devilish squeal while we say, “Gentle! Gentle!”


Julia performing a check-up: "I don't need to give you an x-ray. I have my fingers."

Drool-ia (me) - I thought of this before she started drooling from teething and was really excited for when I could start using the nickname.

Dracula (me) - This is Julia's newest nickname. She came over to me to cuddle in my lap, looked at me with a devilish grin and then bit me! After giving her a stern "No!" and "Ouch!" she surveyed the rest of my leg as though to find the fleshiest part, and chomped again. Mark and James are her other casualties.

Julia "Dracula" Pilloff showing off her fangs while looking for another victim.

Oh no! Not Bunny!


Watch out Big Red Ball!

Bear Trap (me) - When hungry, Julia would start mouthing her own arm like she was caught in a bear trap.

Horse Math (Mark) - Julia stomped her feet like a horse doing math.

Little Plum Girl (Papa) - Papa called her this when Julia wore her plum kimono.


Little Plum Girl is still trying to figure out this bearded Papa person.

Sad Face (Mark) - Julia was often sad her first few months.

Sad Face at 2 months.

Sad Face at 5 months.

Mrs. Chomp (Mark) - When James outgrew his “chomp” outfit (an outfit with an alligator that said "chomp"), Julia started wearing it.


James punches Julia for taking his "chomp" outfit.

Houdini (me) - Julia was adept at getting out of swaddling.

Julia breaks out of swaddling to threaten James.

Try and break out of this Hannibal Lecter, er... I mean Julia.

Weirdo (Mark)


This picture might help explain how Julia got the "weirdo" moniker.


J a m e s

Little Plow (Papa) - My dad called James this because James would crawl/plow along the floor, no matter what (or who) was in his way.

"I'll just plow over Daddy."

Giggles (me) - James has a tendency to giggle uncontrollably and adorably as seen here.

Garbage Disposal (Papa) - He'll eat everything... Except baby borscht. Or baby dal.


Is he Giggles?


Or the Garbage Disposal?


The Garbage Disposal appears to be blocked up.

Moldy Pumpkin Face (me) - This is based on James's cry face.

Which one's James and which one's a moldy pumpkin?

Orange Juice (Mark) - Mark was convinced James didn't know his own name (he did) and he claimed that James was equally likely to look up if we said "orange juice" or "James." And then Mark started calling him Orange Juice.

My Little Monkey (me) - Starting at 15 ½ months, when I would carry James he would hold onto me with his legs too, and seemed like he was going to climb up me. This was especially true when he'd see his bath and get scared.


As soon as James sees his bath he'll be up me like a monkey up a tree.

My Little Lion (Papa) - James was the Cowardly Lion for Halloween and since then Papa has adopted this nickname for him. James also makes a sound resembling a lion's roar... or a possessed frog.


Cute lion.


Scary lion. "Grrr! It's good I'm in my cage or I'd devour you!"

Bruiser (me?) - James got called this after he got a bruise under one eye and a scratch under the other in the same day.

James is the toughest 7 1/2 month old around. Too bad the dog on his shirt doesn't have a shiner on the opposite eye to match James's.

Heartbreaker (me) - I thought James was one of the only cute newborns I'd ever seen, and I started calling him this a few days after he was born.


My first time seeing my Heartbreaker in the NICU.


My little Heartbreaker on Valentine's Day.

The Nuzzler (me) - James sometimes puts his head close to the neck of the person holding him and will sometimes mouth it. Once he tickled Mark doing this. I decided this would be the worst Batman villain ever.


Grandma is The Nuzzler's latest victim.


Warning: the next part will be interesting only to the babies one day and the grandparents so bail out now.

Other Nicknames for Julia

Me
Squirmy - Julia can’t stay still when we’re fastening her diaper.
Littlest One - Julia and James are my Little Ones but only Julia is my Littlest One. (Yes, since there's two of them technically she should be "Littler One" but I say "Littlest One.")
Funny Girl
Popeye - Her forearms made her look like a body builder.
My Timekeeper - Julia always seems to know when it's mealtime, and if you're away from home a few minutes before dinner she starts getting very upset.
MiniMark (coined by Rachel R.) - Julia looks a lot like her daddy.
Pretty Pixie
Squirmy Worm
Slugger - For awhile she liked to slug us in the arm
Magoo - Her side profile looked like Mr. Magoo.
Tiger - My mom's dad called me Tiger. I called Julia that because of the ferocious way she’d go for her pacifier.
Suck Monster - I called Julia this when she nursed.
Margaret Latcher - See above.
Lady Latch-a-Lot - See above.

Mark
Prettiest Girl in Her Age Group
Snorta - She used to snort when hungry.

Bubby
Doodlebug
Miss Sunshine
Little Girl (also used by me)
Julia McGee - Julia got called this when she did something "bad" - sort of like her Mr. Hyde persona.

Grandma
Princess Pumpkin - It's a combination of the two names my mom calls me.
Princess (also used by me)
Ladybug

Papa
My Jewel - Papa’s called her this since he met her on day two.
Blowtorch - Holding babies makes Papa warm.


Other Nicknames for James

Me
Smiley/Smiley Cyrus - James is a smiley boy.
Little Guy - Marge Simpson and I both call our boys this name, though Marge says "Special Little Guy."
Crazy - James would giggle and do silly things on the changing table, and when I'd say "Are you crazy?" he'd giggle more.
Squeaky Wheel - James would cry when I stopped feeding him for a moment in order to feed Julia, or when he wanted a bottle or anything else. Because Julia didn't complain as much, he drew more attention.
Sweetpea - He reminded me of Sweetpea from Popeye. It was a coincidence that we called Julia "Popeye."

Mark
Buddy
Edward R. Furrow

Bubby
Sweet Peach
James MacDougal - James got called this when he did something "bad" - sort of like his Mr. Hyde persona. (also the name of a Whitewater figure)

Grandma
Jamie
The Lug - This name and the next were ones Grandma used for Uncle Michael as well.
Fuzznut
Winston - Grandma thought James resembled Winston Churchill.
Chubbo
Butch - Grandma noted James's resemblance to Butch from The Little Rascals when he'd get his cry face.

Papa
Sunshine - Papa says his smile brings him sunshine. Papa also sings to James “You Are My Sunshine.”
Blast Furnace - Holding babies makes Papa warm.
JB - This is short for James Benjamin.
Ox - James is a strong boy.
Moose - See above.

Other Nicknames for Both

Me
Sweetie
Little One
Mixmaster Julia/James - Sometimes they hit buttons over and over on a musical or speaking toy so you only hear a repeated sound or letter, much like a mixed-up DJ track.