Adventures of Torquil and CheezeDoodle

The Name Game

Torquil, Torquil, bo-borquil

Banana-fana fo-forquil

Fee-fi-mo-morquil

Torquil!

Okay, not THAT name game. (Although that name game is useful in eliminating names like "Mitch" and "Chuck" from our list of options.) The name game we're playing is the "What shall we name the baby this week?" game.

The start of our name game began when we realized that "Torquil" no longer sounds strange or amusing to us. And that's a problem. (You should have SEEN the panicky look on my friend's face when I told her that Torquil doesn't sound funny to me anymore - she was afraid we were starting to like it and might actually name him Torquil! Ummm, no.)

So we've narrowed down our list of name options from every name in the baby book (10,000) to about 10. Yeah, we know that's not a short enough list. But it's progress, right?! And we're pretty sure that the middle name is going to be Michael, after Derek's middle name and the many Michaels in my family, including my dad. So, we're picking a different first name each week and calling him that for the week. We started out calling him "Logan" and then moved on to "Benjamin," "Reid," and now "Jay" this week. We're trying to use the name as much as we can during the week, saying things like "Just put that box in Logan's room," or "Next Christmas, we'll need a stocking for Reid." Some names have moved up the list after a trial week, and others just don't seem to fit him, so I guess that's a step in the right direction.

The one thing we've struggled with is that everybody has an opinion on the name. And apparently if the name isn't officially "picked,?\" people feel free to tell you that opinion. Here's the thing folks: we appreciate some CONSTRUCTIVE feedback. Seriously. When my mom pointed out that Benjamin would be "BM Foster," I found that helpful. Pointing out to us that the initials indicate bodily functions is useful; telling us that you "just don't like the name" is not. Because the truth is that we do like the name - that's why it is on the short list.

I bet that if we tell folks that we've decided on a name, they will all say, "What a lovely name!" regardless of what they're really thinking. So whether you truly like what we end up with or not, y'all better act like you like it. Let's practice - all together now:

"What a lovely name!"