What's in a Name

I laid awake last night thinking about what to blog next and wondering why I didn't pick up this activity any sooner.  I used to write things down, probably things that make no sense now and my children will find them someday when they clean out my attic and I am long gone.  This blogging is much like a diary for the world to see, guess nothing is private these days.

So I was thinking about Tylers name.  It was chosen long before any news of his cleft lip and palate.  He was almost an Alexander, to carry on the "A" names in our family.  But one night I disclosed to Daddy that I was going to call him Xander with an "X".  The name was changed two minutes after that declaration!  Daddy said "that's it, it's got to be Tyler".  Not keeping the same initals as his sisters, or for any other reason besides Daddy liked Tyler and thought it was fit.  I agreed, as I just wanted a firm name that we could call him when talking about him to the girls.  I wanted Tyler to be real to them, not just "the baby".  Ten minutes after Tyler was decided on, the middle name came into conversion.  Ivan won.  Ivan is after my grandfather and my Dad.  Tyler Ivan seemed to have a nice ring to it.  I am hoping Tyler possesses some of the qualities in those two men he is named after.  He is already showing some qualities of my grandfather.  He was a fighter thru and thru.  He endured many medical battles and limped thru them all with a smile on his face.  No one was ever going to tell him his limits.  He would come back after every "episode" stronger and more determined to prove everyone wrong.  He wasn't out of the hospital but days when he would mix up some bake goods and call everyone to come pick them up.  Tyler is going to endure some medical issues of his own and if he can draw the strength from his great-grandpa he will pull thru them all, smiling along the way.  Then, we have Tylers grandpa that also carries the middle name of Ivan.  I am guessing Tyler will be the strong, silent type, who takes it all in but says very little, like his grandpa.  Tyler will probably not be able to get a word in any conversation because his sisters are so verbal.  But I can imagine Tyler will be sitting back staring at them and thinking,, what the hell?!! 

I think Tyler Ivan will live up to all the reasons for his name choice.  He is going to defy the odds over and over again.  He was never meant to have an "A" name like his sisters, he is blazing his own path in this world even before he has entered it.