The baby names

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JandP.jpgI may be posting a little less frequently over maternity leave which I hope you understand. And when I do it might be more about the kids than usual which I also hope you understand.

Some people have asked what the "Blackburn" is for in James' middle name and it's a cool story. Harold Blackburn was Steve's dad's stepfather and Steve often thinks of him as a guardian angel when he flies (he's a nervous flier.) He was a decorated pilot who flew over 100 kinds of aircraft, flew in WWI, flew the first wounded back from the D-Day mission, and flew the first Lockheed Constellation overseas for TWA. This is a brief gloss over his career but you can read more in his obituary here and in two New Yorker profiles here and here.  I actually suggested the nickname just because Hal looms so large in Steve's family legend (and I thought it sounded cool.)

As for the "James" part, I wanted to work backwards from the name "Jay," which is my mom's middle name, and when I looked it up I saw that "Jay" was often a diminutive of "James," a name I've always liked. It was in the running for Paul's name but Steve at the time wasn't really convinced yet. (If James was a girl I already had her name picked out: Julia Jay.) So we may call James "Jay" if he grows into it (it doesn't really strike me as a good baby name yet.) When he's squalling I sing "Jamie's Cryin" by Van Halen to him although Steve isn't sure he's up for "Jamie" (but I think we can call him different things, right?)

I wrote a thing about how Paul's first name as chosen back when he was born. His middle name is Edward after my dad. And meanwhile, both kids' last names are "Delahoyde." While I love and am proud of being a Zulkey, I just prefer the way "Delahoyde" sounds, so I opted to have that be the boys' last name. However it should be noted that Steve sincerely said he was fine with the kids having my last name or even a combined name, but I wasn't a fan of that idea (at least for us--I think it's awesome when other people do.) But the point is, 5 progressive points for Steve.