The Royal Baby

I've been looking forward to the birth of the royal baby ever since I heard the news that Princess Kate was expecting. There's been a lot of buzz about Kate the past couple of weeks since the birth of her and Prince William's baby was imminent. People have been speculating about all aspects of the birth, from the gender of the baby, when/where it would be born and what name would be chosen for the baby.

On Monday, July 22, I turned on the TV in the morning and heard the news that Kate had gone into labor. I had a doctor's appointment that morning, and then had friends over in the afternoon to visit, so I was away from the TV much of the day. But I heard the news of the royal birth later in the afternoon. Kate gave birth to a baby boy at 4:24 in the afternoon, and the baby weighed 8 lbs. 6 oz.  I don't know if it sounds silly to admit, but I was thrilled when I heard the news. There's so much bad news that gets reported on these days, so it was refreshing to have the news be something exciting and happy for once!

It was fun to watch the royal birth coverage on the news, and to see all the festivities and excitement that surrounded the birth. I love the picture below of everyone clamoring around the gate in front of Buckingham palace anxiously awaiting the news that the baby had arrived. It's tradition for the news to come by an official letter being posted on an easel outside the palace. (There's always the town crier that "cries" the news to the world. "Hear ye, hear ye...")

Here's a picture of William and Kate leaving the Lindo Wing at St. Mary's Hospital. I love how Prince William took charge of loading baby George into the car, and how he even drove his family away instead of having someone else drive them, which is customary.

I liked these "then and now" pictures showing Princess Diana and Prince Charles leaving the hospital with William 31 years ago (leaving from the very same exit of St. Mary's Hospital.).

The world was all ears as they waited to find out what Kate and William would name the baby. Yesterday afternoon the news broke that the name had been chosen: George Alexander Louis of Cambridge. When I found out the baby was a boy, I was actually thinking that they might choose the name George for their son. The name James also was on the list of names that people were speculating might be chosen if the baby were a boy. James is one of my favorite boy names, so I would've loved the name to be James Alexander, but nobody consulted me!! (I wonder if the name George will rise in popularity now that Kate and William have chosen that name for their baby?)

I actually have a love-hate relationship with the name George. Several years ago, my sister's sister-in-law had a son and she named him George. I was surprised since that's not really a common name these days. Most of the Georges I knew were old men, so I felt badly for the poor baby, since George just sounded like such an old man name! The name has actually grown on me in the past several years, and now I actually kind of like it, although not enough to ever name one of my kids that if I had kids.

It's funny how your feelings on different names can change over the years, or how the way you view a name can be positively or negatively affected by someone else you know that has the same name, like a childhood classmate, a former partner in a relationship, a celebrity that you like/don't like, etc.

Welcome to the world, future King of England!