Ok so the title isn’t 100% accurate since it’s actually been 7 months, but it should go to show how behind I am with my fatherhood writings. The first half of Tristan’s first year has been crazy, hectic, and completely wonderful. Being able to sit back and watch him figure out how to do something is enlightening. Observing him learning reminds me how to learn things too, something I’ve forgotten somewhere along the way.
It’s been just about 3 months since Tristan has joined our world, and everyone in our household is finally getting settled down with the new addition. My wife and I made it through the transition fairly well, and I can state with much pride that I’m able to successfully work on a computer with an infant AND a dog in my lap. Speaking of our dog, Loki, he seems to be the one taking it the hardest making the adjustment.
My wife and I finally completed all the necessary classes at the hospital where my son is going to be born. I used the title for this post ‘Certified Parent’ sort of as joke, but at the end of the parenting class we were actually presented with a certification. Now, I understand that labor, delivery, parenting, and changing the first diaper are all serious topics. But, there has to be a better way to educate first time parents on what to expect when the big day happens and you go from being a married couple to an actual family.
Assuming that the doctors little computer was accurate, we should be seeing our little boy come into the world in 2 months time. Things are definitely starting to sink in and get ‘real’. I think my wife has officially entered the nesting period, she has begun planning out how the nursery is going to be laid out and doing lots of measuring. Which means I get to hold the tapemeasure and nod to whatever suggestions she makes.
A month ago I sent out a tweet asking for topics to write about here, and my good friend Nathan Verrill (twitter) suggested the following.
So here we go:
At Christmas my in-laws gave me the following book to help my wife and I search for the name for our unborn child.
The first challenge was where the hell to do I start? The best course of action was straight brute force in the end. My wife and I each picked a colored highlighter and in our free time we are going through the book front to back highlighting anything that sticks out. I took the approach that Malcolm Gladwell discusses in his book ‘Blink‘ of going with my gut reaction. As I skimmed over the thousands of names, I trusted my ‘gut’ reaction. During my search two things happened which I wasn’t expecting.
The names I picked for a boy in general had ancient roots, and deep meaning. I have a hard time convincing my wife and family with some of the possibilities due to certain ethnic groups having a ‘claim’ to it. On the other hand, many of the names I chose for a girl were historic, but generally common.
Many of the names I chose, both for a boy or a girl, could make the child an easy target once they start to socialize with other children. My philosophy is that no matter what, kids will find a way to turn a name into a put down. I don’t want the possibility of simple name calling to restrict the options we have when it comes to naming our child.
As it stands now, I have made it all the way through the book and picked out all the names that just ‘felt’ right. My wife is almost through the boys section, and should have the girls done sometime next week. Once we have picked out our choices, I plan on pulling out all of the highlighted names and saving it in a digital manner. Coming to a final choice will be the true challenge though. I have been thinking that the best way would be to whittle the listing down to a meaningful set, and just wait until that beautiful day our child’s comes into the world. It is my hope that on that day, upon looking at my child’s face a name will naturally be chosen.
