Day #3

It is so interesting how big of a deal it can be to choose a name for a baby. I think it is an exceptionally rare occasion for this decision to come easily. I had decided that after we named our first born Joshua, I wanted to stick to only Biblical names for my boys. Dave and I talked back and forth for months before Tyler was born trying to decide the name. In the last month we had narrowed it down to two names: Andrew or Jonathon. We had almost named Josh the name Andrew. I had never stopped loving that name. Out of nowhere we also fell in love with the name Jonathon.

About 3 months before Tyler was born I asked Josh what he wanted to name his new brother. That was the period when Josh was completely obsessed with dinosaurs. Of course the main dinosaur he really cared about was the T-Rex. Josh was three at the time and told us that T-Rex would be the best name for his brother. I thought it was a fun idea, but suggested we name him Tyler because that name also started with a T and we could use Rex as the middle name. Josh got a big grin on his face and was pleased with my compromise. It wasn’t long before we moved on to other boy names and forgot all about Tyler.

The night before Tyler was born, I had decided his name was going to be Andrew. I just needed to convince my husband. I think Dave was leaning more towards Jonathon. However, when I heard Tyler’s very first cry, I knew this baby was not an Andrew. It had nothing to do with Tyler’s looks. In fact I remember thinking he looked like an Andrew. But that cry was telling me something different.

It was only a few hours after Ty was born that I remember Dave cradling his new son, a son he had never imagined that would be his, and we once again asked ourselves what we would name him. I remember the soft and kindness of Dave’s tone when he said, “Kristine, what do you think about the name Tyler?” There was no hesitation in my voice as I said, “Yes. I want his name to be Tyler.” Then we smiled. Tyler it was.