In Both Gavin and Aiden You Find I-A-N

So my friend Ann pointed out after the boys were born that both their names contain the letters needed to spell "Ian." I thought that was pretty darn cool, especially considering it was unplanned and neither of us had noticed it on our own. We put a lot of thought into the boys' names. Early in my pregnancy we had bounced around some names, but we didn't get serious about names until we knew that they were both boys. We both really liked the idea of giving them Scottish names and began our search for the perfect monikers.

Ian was especiallly active in looking up names on the Internet and emailing or texting me his suggestions. I know it may be hard to believe, but not all of his suggestions were Scottish or serious. Some favorites, which many of you may have already heard, were D'Juan & D'Wayney (inspired by NCAA basketball) and Zeus & Jesus (Spanish pronunciation). The latter pair prompted by the idea that you could say "Hey Zeus" and they would both come.

My students were also very interested in the naming process of the boys and gave me daily suggestions. Some of my favorites were Walker & Texas Ranger, Dwight & Michael (one class loved the show The Office), and Anderson & Propes (the last names of the band teachers). Ian's coworkers Wendy and Mikkie suggested Rod & Tod, but we were afraid the hair products that would accompany their obligatory mullets would bankrupt us nor did we believe we could find two matching 1989 T-Top Pontiac Firebirds.

But in all seriousness, Ian took a very active role in the naming process. It was Ian who first found the plethora of websites that listed Scottish names. It was also Ian who first suggested the name Gavin, which we both fell in love with immediately. We tried out a number of names with Gavin, but there were none that even compared to Aiden. Once we had found those two names, we never wavered. To us, they were the perfect names. They are even more perfect now that we know each of their names contain the name of their father.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish Ian a wonderful first Father's Day. He is already a fantabulous father, which I always knew he would be.

Happy Father's Day to Grandpa Paul and Grandpa Neil!

And last, but not least, Happy 3 Week Birthday Gavin and Aiden! You've come a long way babies!

[Photos: Top - Ian with Gavin, Bottom - Ian with Aiden]