Tuesday, January 20, 2009

philtrum


Though one of my stepbrothers used to call it the snot funnel, that little indentation, groove, channel, rabbet, hollow, notch between nose and upper lip is technically known as the philtrum. And, as the old wives' tale goes, it's the mark left where an angel hushed the baby, reminding it not to tell all the secrets it knew before it was born.


eta: The beautiful, soft baby blanket that you can just see a tiny corner of in the picture was handmade by the extremely talented Shinny. Stop by her place and wish her daughter a happy first birthday!

31 comments:

Amy said...

What a wonderful tale that is! He's a beautiful baby!

Anonymous said...

I imagined this babe has been kissed by many angels. BEAUTIFUL photo.
xo

thirtysomething said...

Oh, what a neat tale! Sweet little soul.

thordora said...

oh niobe...he tickles the cockles of my heart so...

RBandRC said...

He is just gorgeous.

Grad3 said...

Still perfect--- imagine the secrets he could tell :)

Antropóloga said...

Perfect baby!

Which Box said...

He is definitely angel kissed. Adorable.

Anonymous said...

He is just so beautiful. Love all the photos.

Kathy McC said...

Hahahahaaa! Snot funnel. I need to use that one day soon.

I love the angel tale. Very sweet. He's gorgeous.

Tash said...

Well how about this! Both you and G have made reference to one of my favorite and yet peculiar songs within a space of days! Barenaked Ladies, "The Word For That"

Awake said...

I think it's just called cute. So cute.

Waiting Amy said...

He is just precious.

Philtrum is one of my favorite words. In fact, our son knew what it was at 3. Such is the life of a child of medical people. I like the angel story best.

niobe said...

Tash: Thanks for the link!

I'd actually never heard of that BNL song before. When I wrote the post, I was thinking of (and wanted to link to, but couldn't find) a poem from Willard Espy's Almanac of Words at Play, the last line of which is something like "I wish I knew the name for it."

Furrow said...

I like the story Christiane Northrup tells in one of her books about a little girl who wanted to talk privately with her new baby brother because she was starting to forget what heaven was like.

Betty M said...

He's a very cute baby indeed.

Magpie said...

Sweet - though his philtrum is barely visible in that there photo.

Artblog said...

OH LORDY, he's scrummy! I've heard that too somewhere, sometime ago :)

niobe said...

Magpie: You're right. Though it is front and (more or less) center.

LadyofAvalon56 said...

I grew up calling it the "cupid's bow" but I like your story better.

Aurelia said...

I keep turning the screen round and round and looking at him. God he's cute.

Does he look at all like your older son at the same age, or are they very different?

niobe said...

Aurelia: Except for coloring, it's really hard for me to see much physical resemblance yet. For a long, long time, Gray was tiny and frail, pointy-chinned with enormous eyes. Gray wasn't quite five pounds when we finally brought him home from the hospital and it took several months for him to catch up to other babies his age.

Also, though it's early days yet, Cole seems to have a different temperament -- calmer, more easily comforted. I've always found it very easy to understand Gray because he's so much like me. Cole may be a bit more of a puzzle.

CLC said...

He's absolutely gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

I think I prefer snot funnel to philtrum.

He is gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

Oh Niobe! Such a sweet tale! I can imagine all the beautiful stories you will tell Cole (and have told Gray)as he grows up. So lucky to have a mum like you!
He is such a sweet angel!

Monica H said...

I'm so going to use this word in my next game of Scrabble!

He's such a cutie.

painted maypole said...

love the happy trivia

Maggie said...

Oh he is just so perfect!

I have never heard that about the philtrum, but I sure do like it! I am totally going to have to remember that!

Carly Marie said...

Simply lovey, I wish I could remember what I knew :)

Anonymous said...

FYI: "Sniffleridge" is the sniglet for "philtrum."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sniglet

docgrumbles said...

great philtrum!