What's In a Name?

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I want my Grandma – she was supposed to be here by now! Mr. Jucundo went to pick her up across the South African border in Nelspruit. Mommy says they got stuck at the border (this is Africa, after all), so Daddy went to pick her up at the border.

Since she's not here yet, I thought I'd tell you about our Word of the Day activity. Every day Mommy and I learn the etymology of one new word. That way, when I start speaking English, I'll have a superb vocabulary. Right now I can only speak Portuguese – the people we meet on the streets all understand me and translate for Mommy that I'm too cold, I need my head or feet covered, the sun is in my eyes, etc.

So I am learning all kinds of cool words, and sometimes we play games with them – like when the word was "binary," we had a binary parade with my Noah's Ark felts.

Some cool words I've learned are my first and middle names: Esmé Elaine. Both have French origins. Esmé means "loved," and Elaine means "shining light." So my nomenclators (Mommy & Daddy) gave me names with both a root and a purpose.

If I was a Native American, my name would be "Highly Esteemed Flashlight."

Oh yeah – Mommy gave me my first name (which is a common Afrikaans name), and Daddy gave me my middle name (which is Mommy's middle name), so I am a good representative of both of them!