what's in a name?

not only did we return home from our thanksgiving in charlotte with stuffed bellies, but susanna also acquired a new favorite toy: a pink baby doll with a change of clothes, bottle, and hat. the baby has not left her side since thursday, and we've all been subjected to her motherly high-pitched singsong voice as she talks to, and feeds, and soothes her new charge. for the first day or so that the doll was in susanna's arms, she was just known as The Doll. but on friday susanna began referring to her as Baby China. this perplexed us, since she typically calls her toys and imaginary friends and dollhouse figurines by names of people she knows -- classmates, relatives, students in her ballet group, etc. i asked her how she had come up with China. "liam told me that was her name," she responded, as she maneuvered the doll across the floor to her makeshift crib. i pondered that for a moment. he has a huge world map on his wall and is pretty adept at naming the countries and continents, but even keeping that into consideration, it still didn't make sense as to why he'd suggest an asian nation as a moniker for the baby. i told her that that was a very "interesting choice," and planned to leave it at that. "oh, liam showed it to me," she explained, and carried the doll to me. "see? here it is." she turned over the doll and pointed. and sure enough, there, etched into the bottom of her bald plastic head, were the words "©2008 CHINA".