Saturday, September 22, 2007

Nick Knack

Tagged by Choxbox (choxbox.blogspot.com) to mention the nicknames we call the kids. Nope, not talking about the Unborn One yet; he's mostly still The Baby. I am talking about Pikey The Cat and Raina The Pookie. It's no use pointing out to us that Pikey's not our kid -- she may not have been our first experience in childbirth, but she definitely gave us a taste of childrearing.

We got her when she was 3 months old, and she sat on my lap and meowed all the way home. Once there, she quickly settled in which was obvious by the speediness with which she began making demands -- for lap time, scratch time, play time. Each demand would be underlined by a corresponding meow, which we quickly learned to decipher. Short, staccato meows meant "I'm hungry"; long drawn out meows meant "I really really want something, and you better get it quick otherwise I'm going to scratch the sofa." So it's not surprising that she was nicked The Meow Cat. Pikey itself was a nick for the stately Pilcrow (you know, the paragraph mark on your word doc on the computer).

Other nicks that quickly followed: Pikeymon, Pikery, Peekaroo, Pikeysan, Mikey, Mouse (she's scared of everything, including mice), Silly Billy (billy means cat in Hindi). She answers to them all.

OK, Raina's turn. When she was born, P began calling her The Bug or Bugga because of her big lamplike eyes and teeny nose. I'd call her Smilu and Cheeky for her obvious attributes. Innocuous enough, but the nicks have deteriorated since.

I now call her Cheekoo, Cheekoodee, Pookie (further bastardizing the nick Raina Pooh), Pookeymon, Pookers and sometimes, Pooky Friend (from her favorite Halloween tee with a graphic of "Spooky Friends" which she would mispronounce as Pooky Friends).

But I can't top P, who often calls her Altu (as in Altu-Faltu, meaning useless in Hindi), her baby brother's Faltu and the cat Paltu (pet in Hindi). And then sometimes he calls her "Boogers" -- as in yucky dried snot. What can I say? The man's a creative genius.

9 comments:

Choxbox said...

LOL! Altu-Faltu-Paltu takes the cake!

Now I get the similarity with Dora - big eyes, small nose, smiling face :) (and black hair I guess).

A Muser said...

It is funny! One of the husband's better jokes. :)) Yes, she does look quite a bit like Dora! Guess that's why she likes her too...

crazymumma said...

I love what cats make us do...and say.

Artnavy said...

Altu- Faltu- Paltu- u have to give it to him- truly creative!!

A Muser said...

Crazymumma: Yeah, Pikey's pretty inspiring that way.
Artnavy: I shall pass on your compliment!

Terri the terrific said...

Boy, the husband really has a knack for nicks. I wonder what he calls you.

Ms. Maggi said...

I'm dying to know what P calls u!!

A Muser said...

Hehehe! The tag's about nicks for kiddos, folks, not better halves. :)) Ms. Maggi, great to see you in the n'hood! All's well I hope?

Thinking Cramps said...

Been having trouble opening up the comments window. I loved altu-faltu-paltu. Another addition can be 'aayi balaa ko taal tu' :)

No post for a long time, and Faltu's almost here. Hope you are well!