The etiology of a nickname

People ask me frequently how a child named Lillian came to be called Poppy, instead of the more obvious flower nickname, Lily. Like most childhood nicknames a sibling was involved, but rather than being anointed Poppy, her name sort of evolved. Lillian was born when Eleanor was just 16 months old. Unfortunately Eleanor's toddler language skills were not quite developed enough for her to say the three syllables of Lillian or the double L sound. So she called her Lala (like the Teletubby.) And we did too. Eventually, as her language skills developed, Eleanor began to call her Lala. And we did too. In goofy "mother-of-a-newborn-ese" (that's the official language of sleep deprived, hormonal, postpartum women)Lolly became Lollipop. As Lillian grew so, too, did her personality. Eventually her nickname was being modified depending on her mood. If she was crabby, she was Pop Tart. If she was showing off she was Pop Star. If she was crying she was Poppy Top. From there we evolved (or perhaps regressed) to Poppy. Funny how a long name was shortened to a nickname which was then lengthened to another nickname was inevitably too long. Thus we arrived at a nickname of a nickname. Don't ask me how Eleanor came to be called Noodle, just be glad she reclaimed her name. I suppose Lillian will too, if not before, she will definitely do so when she is asked about the etiology of her nickname.