Baby Rayan

Introducing ... Baby Rayan!

Finally, I can post! I still don't know if it was me or the host, but at least we seem to be in sync again! So, here's the summary, and for those who like all the gory details, I'll post those in the final post at 40 Weeks. Rayan was born in Dallas at 12:13am on Saturday, May 20, weighing 6 lbs, 14 oz and measuring 19 inches long. He was nameless and I was fretful until 3 minutes before the birth certificate lady went home on the day he was discharged 3 days later. Even then, it felt like a rushed, last-minute decision, and I wasn't happy with it. The original name we decided on was Rayn, pronounced like "rain," but K's research led him to believe that was a misspelling, and that it should be Rayan or Rayyan. We preferred Rayan, and were pronouncing it "RAY-un," and I had decided I was ok with that. The English spellings of Arabic names are a transliteration of the way the name sounds, so K found the name in Arabic hours after the baby was born in order to determine the correct pronunciation. He says it should be pronounced "ray-AHN," which I didn't like so well, and so the drama continued. As it stands today, hardly anyone calls him by his name, and when they do, it's a variety of pronunciations. If a non-Muslim asks me his name, I say "Rayan, like Ryan with an A." If a Muslim asks, I pronounce it "ray-AHN." K always says "ray-AHN." Layth's pronunciation is somewhere between the two, but closer to "ray-AHN." I often pronounce it somewhere between the two, but closer to Ryan with an A. K's parents seem to be trying to avoid saying it, but the few times I've heard them say it, it sounds more like Ryan or "rye-AHN." K and Layth often call him Peanut, K's dad has gone from calling him a cashew nut to a peanut, and I've gone from Peanut to my little Jellybean to mostly calling him Baby. No telling what we'll come up with when he stops curling up in that fetal position. I hope we all reach an unspoken agreement before he's old enough to suffer an identity crisis because of us! Our poor cat has no idea her name is Nutmeg because we always call her Kitty when we're happy with her and Cat when she's in trouble.