What's in a Name?

We have never been able to call our babies by their given names. I'm not sure why. It seems they take a while to grow into them or something. We never set out to give them nicknames, but that's what always happens. Eventually the baby nickname fades away though, and our kids become the name they were given. So strange how that happens...how they become their names.

But the baby is not the embodiment of his name yet, and so we find ourselves calling him...Herman. Here's how it happened. Son4 is the squirmiest baby we have ever met. He doesn't cry much, and I think squirming is his brand of fussy. Which is not bad as fussy goes. In fact, if you could order up a brand of baby when it comes time to have one, I highly recommend the Herman brand because he's sweet and delicious and squirming is the quietest kind of baby fussing that there is.

Anyway, Herman squirmed so much that we began to call him Squirmy Hermy. This stuck for a while, and we still refer to him that way...but eventually it just became Herman. Now we say it all the time. When Herman is sleeping, my husband will say, "Where's Herman?" When Herman is feeling sad and fussy, we say, "Oh, Herman..." with voices full of sympathy. I'm pretty sure my husband and I say it every chance we get. I think it somehow makes us love him even more.