The Many Names of Rooney Wade

Dusting off the old quill and parchment to bring you another post. If you've spent a lot of time around either Susan or her sister, you've probably received a new nickname. And, not to toot my own horn, but I've bestowed quite a few sobriquets in my time.

So I'd like to take this opportunity to list and explain some of them. This way, 30 years from now, we'll understand WHY Rooney is known as "Sweet-Angel-Bear-Lamby-Kitten".
Yes, this is one of the "affectionate" (or as a more cynical member of the house may say "girly" (that Rocco is so cruel)) names Susan gave to Rooney. There are others as well; I think Baby Bear is one of the more commonly used ones. Of course, this must get confusing to the other small gentlemen in our house, who have also been referred to as Baby Bear. Similarly, we have Mr. Barky Pants (Courage when he's acting up) and Mr. Fussy Pants (Rooney when he's acting up). And when Susan and I talk about what Rooney was up to that day, we often refer to him as either "The Boy" or "His Highness".

Then there is the class of names that are derivations of Rooney. There's been Rooney Toons, Roonster, Roons, and Prunes. A name that's seen a lot of circulation lately is Roonald. I really like this one: it's the unofficial formal form for Rooney. I also throw in Rodney on occasion, just so that when school starts Rooney will know to answer his teachers on the first day.

Finally, there's a goup of names that have no explanation (aside from the ones that I give).

• Shinsy: When we put Rooney into his car seat or high chair, sometimes his pants ride up to his knees, exposing his shins.
• Flo-Jo: Sometimes, though, only one leg would ride up, leaving him looking something like the famed track star (sort of)
• Fat Joe: When Rooney is sitting too far forward in his car seat and I need to strap him in, I often tell him to "lean back, Fat Joe"
• Bama: I gave this one to Rooney one day at the dinner table after he stuffed an entire handful of goldfish in his mouth. I called him the "Cramma from Alabama", or the "Alabama Cramma". This was later shortened to just "Bama".