Names

Kelvin and I couldnt decide on a name when I was pregnant with Sybella. He liked plain names, and I liked frilly names. My first choice for a girl was Helena, and if she was a boy, Ned. Kelvin would give me Ned, but didnt like Helena, or Annabelle, or Sienna.
In a bookshop, I saw the name of an author, which was Sybella. Immediately, I felt an affinity with the name, as I had years and years ago, when Antonia Kidman named her fourth child Sybella. Even back then, I wasnt sure if I liked it, but felt connected to it somehow. I somehow knew I would have a daughter named Sybella one day. As I excitedly told Kelvin about this name, he agreed that he liked it. I was 18 weeks at that stage, and we didnt yet know if Sybella was a boy or a girl. So we had finally settled on a name. Sybella or Ned.
The middle name was trickier, we didnt pick Eve until a week before her birth. I had always liked Rose or Grace for a middle name, but they had already been used by some family members already, and I didnt like to double up. But now I am glad, because Eve was the perfect middle name. Sybella Eve was just such an etheral name and it suited her perfectly.

Here is a list of some of the nick names I had planned to use for Sybella as she grew up:

• Bella
• Bella Boo
• Smelly Belly
• Bella Girl

Sometimes I still call her those.