Oh, look at her. She's the cutest what's-her-name I've ever seen.

Calico Kitten
Photo by NYCMotherPie.

When I was little there was this calico kitten that came by our house. She would sit at our garage door every day and meow because she was hungry and didn't have a home. She was just too cute and too tiny, we had to keep her. She became our cat.

It wasn't anything official. It wasn't like we had a family meeting and keeping the cat was an item on the agenda. It just sort of happened over a few months.

So, from day one, we just called her "kitty" because that's what she was, a baby cat. No one ever bothered to think of anything more interesting, and after all, what name could more accurately sum up who she was. She was our kitty.

It's funny because April and I felt no need to name our little girl these last few days because she already had so many names that seemed to fit her so well.

"Our little girl"

"Sweetie"

"Cutie"

"Hey you"

"Cariño"

"La valenciana"

However, yesterday we did give her a new name. But I have to say, I think we were both a little sad. I think we liked the fact that all of her names up until that point were "in house" names--names only a mom and a dad would say to their little one. It felt romantic somehow.

But, as everyone says, "They grow up fast," so we've decided to step out into the wider world and give her a name everyone else can use.

So, if you can imagine her in your arms for a moment, please say your first hello to Alleke Grace Crull. (We're calling her Ali). I was hoping the name wasn't too unaccessible, but it seems it is hard to know how to pronounce, so if you click on the play button below, you'll hear me pronouncing it correctly.

hear Alleke's name

We picked the name because...

• we just like it


• Ali is a family name (April's dad's mom)


• It's Dutch, and a) we've spent a lot of time in Holland. Amsterdam will always be a magical place for us. And b) the part of the U.S. where we come from is a Dutch settlement, so it's a part of our heritage.