XinLei Luís Teixeira Gomes
What’s In A Name?
Stack 3 gold nuggets, 3 rocks, place them side by side & you’ll have (郑)鑫磊, a name that stands for prosperity, openness & honesty; courtesy of my father for his first grandchild. Yes, É & I made a baby boy, in case you haven’t heard, & he inherits my Chinese surname lest Tey Tei(xeira) sounds like we’re giving tribute to Taylor Swift’s nickname, Tay Tay. 鑫 (xīn) is also a character my brother shares, which sounds like my 欣 (xīn) for ‘Cin’, a mellow resemblance I delight in knowing. 🤗
Unless you‘re Portuguese, I believe ‘Teixeira Gomes’ is a name that requires some explaining. Although made of 2 words, it is actually 1 surname, where Teixeira means forest of yews – how beautiful! Proud to embrace my son’s other half heritage, I insisted on a first name that flows nicely with it’s last. After countless debates between husband & wife, we finally finalized our son’s name on 10th May/when he’s 2 months old.
The main challenge was finding a name that is special yet not too trying, & most importantly meaningful. We each made a list of names we like but they are either a) too common – Portuguese & Spanish names have the tendency to be, or b) feel like they don’t belong to the unique surname. With ‘XinLei‘, I love how there’s a ‘X’ & ‘ei’ that attach to Teixeira like it’s meant to be!
Shine a ray of clarity across XinLei brings together Luís Teixeira Gomes. Luís, derived from the word luz in Portuguese means light. An element I’m very fond of for its metaphor, for he’s my shining star I wish upon that his mind will be always clear, bright & focused. Although Luís is not a rare Latin name, we adore how it’s also É’s paternal great-grandpa & maternal grandpa’s name.
String them all together & we have the 1 & only XinLei Luís Teixeira Gomes in the world!
The main reason why I waited so long to share anything XL-related is that I had been waiting for the pictures in this post to arrive. Despite having them taken as early as a week since he was born (or the ‘Bundles of Joy’ wrap won’t be possible exceeding 14 days), it took 3 months to receive these photos.
Admittedly, I have stubborn quirky ways of how I believe things should be done in a very specific order, which in my head equals great planning, but not necessarily common sense in other’s eyes. (A trait É can testify he loves & hates.) In this case, I know I’d like to launch my ParenCINg series by releasing XL’s first look, taken at his 1st professional photoshoot.
As for the second reason I’ve been ‘gone’ for so long, it goes without saying that like all new mothers who go through a fair amount of recovering, adjusting, & adapting, I’m no exception. Despite having a myriad of fresh baby-content ideas popping up in my mind, I hardly have time to sleep, leave alone execute.
Seeing the 4th trimester had passed, here’s to hoping things will get easier as I’d love to share with you the ups & downs of my journey, & especially the things I wished someone had told me before becoming a new mother to a little milk monster.
