Alexander the Grape?

One of the small joys of parenting is watching kids develop names for their favorite people -- friends, relatives, neighbors. Often, these names are so much fun that we parents find ourselves using them.

For instance, our friend Diane is "Auntie Dine," because Garrett and Grace called her that. And Garrett and Grace are called "The Dee-Dees" because that's what they called each other.

Grandparents are prime territory for these pet names. Alicia's parents are Nana and Granddad. My parents are Grandma and Grandpa (which tend to come out as "GammaGampa").

Last night, Jack and I had occasion to call my beloved grandmother in Ohio. Our nephews Brady and Parker call her "Grandma Great," which seemed like a good moniker to adopt. So I told Jack that we were going to call Grandma Great and say hello.

He loved this idea, but somehow in the synapses he combined two of his favorite things -- grandmothers and fruit, and came up with "Gamma-Grape." "Bye Bye, Gamma Grape!" "Love you, Gamma Grape!"

That's one that's going to stick, I think.