Call me (insert name here).

Tiffany (still "with child") brought it to my attention that her cat, Ferra, and Harper share the "Punkie" nickname. While I am amused by the shared moniker, it doesn't not surprise me that Ferra is also a Punkie. Nicknames interest me to no end -- interestingly enough, as I've never really had a nickname of my own. I've always been called by a name that was somehow derived from my given name. While the back story is interesting to some and completely dull to others, I may be referred to by a dozen different versions of my name at any given moment. Just call me...Jenny, JenHowePeel, JenHowe, ChenHowe, Jen, Jennifer, JPeel, Jennybean, etc. Take your pick!

My little Punkie has more nicknames than I can keep track of, and the list grows longer nearly every day. Jeff called her Pumpkin from the very beginning, which quickly morphed into many other names. It went something like this: Pumpkin to Punkin to Punkin Princess to Punkie Princess to just good ol' Punkie. Harper also answers to Punkie Pie, HP, One-sock, No-sock (you can easily see that those two are also related), Sweet Baby Harper, Sweet Pea... Booger comes in handy when she is giving us a hard time. Ben Ber-nakey is the name to use whenever she lacks clothing. There are at least a dozen others that are dancing beyond the margins of my memory at the moment, but you get the idea. I call her "Punkie" so often that I have to make it a point to use her real name - just to make sure she knows that she is Harper, too!

I actually did have a nickname when I was very young. I had almost forgotten it. Well, more like pushed the memory back into the deep recesses of my mind. My grandma used to call me "Pumpkin," which, for a time, I felt was very special. I thought it was special until I realized that she called everyone Pumpkin. I straight up got robbed by my own sci-fi granny! Sheesh!

Anyhoo, I'll leave you with a smattering of random photos from the last couple of weeks. Oh, a quick snippet of conversation from my field trip to pick up tissue paper from Wal-Mart... Harper and I exit the store right beside an older woman. Strangers, particularly old women, feel compelled to talk to me (and any other mother, I'm sure) about my baby. This lady, a new grandmother, proceeded to tell me about her two-week-old grandson. Apparently, he is cute, but Harper is "just soooooo precious!" Sorry 'bout your grandson, lady!

She has a thing for stripes! We call these her "jailbird" jammies!

Harper's 1st Thanksgiving

Hangin' out with Dad

She's got those sweet baby blues...

Two can play the pouting game! (Harper just happens to be cuter doing it!)