I 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.
Patrick
My daughter is Amaryn Abigail and my son is Edison Elgin.
My wife is Thai, and Amaryn is a Thai name that means something that's very hard to explain in English. Abigail is from Abbie, the first dog we owned together and the best dog ever.
Edison is named after my wife's late brother Eddie, who died as a teenager. Elgin is for Elgin, IL, where my dad's side of the family hails from. And after the fact, it was pointed out that my dad lived on Edison Ave in Elgin!
Maxwell Morgan will be here in about six weeks. Max is a name we just like, and Morgan is the maiden name of my paternal grandmother.