I have been asked by many friends about Baby M's name.  It is a secret but, yes, he already has a name.  Even at home though, we call him "Baby M".  We are both a little superstitious and we don't really want to hear any opinions.  No negative "Ju-Ju" around this kid.  None at all.  Maxie's name was originally going to be Judah Maxwell Leviss but we made the mistake of telling people who told us that they didn't like the name Judah.  Honestly, I am not sure we cared that much what other people thought, but we did like his name better when we switched it up.  Still, who needs it this time around?  We like Baby M's name.  And, no, it isn't Maxie (that would be kind of weird, no?).  You can certainly feel free to keep sending me suggestions.  Perhaps we will like one of them enough for the next Baby Leviss, but this time around, we've got it covered.

AND - it isn't the name of any of the Fleishman, Leviss, or Thomson pets!  We have a long history of having pets named after people and people after pets.  Sometimes we are aware we are doing it and sometimes we aren't.  In the case of Jake (our Goldendoodle), he just came with that name.  Same name as my mom's brother - Uncle Jake.  Then Paul adopted two little dogs and asked Ted if he minded if one of the dogs were named Ted.  Ted said that, yes, he minded.  Paul didn't let that stop him - his boys are Bill and Ted.  My mother's father was named Bill (Chadney, of "Chadney's" restaurant in Burbank - for the locals).  My mom loved Jakey and decided to adopt her own goldendoodle - Ben (Ben and I are not the best of friends but he is certainly cute).  Ben is also Uncle Jake's son's name and my mother's grandfather's name.  She also has two standard poodles - Camille and Stella.....so, imagine our surprise when my niece was born a few weeks ago and we found out her name is Camille Bella!  As much as Ted and I have laughed about this human/pet name insanity, we did the same thing - it was months before we realized that Max had the same name as Paul's longtime companion - Max, his cat!  The fact is that at this point, there are very few pets in our family that don't share their name with a family member - Layla, Lola and Lucy (our dog and my dad's family's dogs)...are the last pets standing (with unique names).  Stella too, I suppose, but it does rhyme with "Bella" so I am not letting her off the hook.  No, Baby M will have his own name that he will not share with a dog or a cat.  Maybe everyone can hold off on getting new pets until August....or at least, check your names with us first!  Thanks.