BAM! BLAM? The name game continues

Hello lovely readers! This is going to be a long and wordy post, very light on pictures, so if you are in it for the photos, please check back tomorrow. Ok, the rest of you that are left...

Loren and I had a heckuva time with baby names. With girl names, we both liked them all, and could never narrow it down to anything. Kate? Yes. Alexandra? Yes. Sabrina, Tabitha, Veronica, Leila, Lucy, Rebecca, Leah, Loren, Ella, Emily, Irene, Grace, Clara, Elizabeth, Annika, Delilah, Jane, May, Emma, Bella, Bridget, Olivia, Heidi, Mia, Stella, Abigail? Yes please, we would like to have them all. Sooooo, that was one problem, and one of the main reasons we found out baby's gender, instead of waiting. Then there was the boy name problem. Loren liked all things wacky and off beat, with a special focus in the muppet and cartoon arena, and leanings toward all things Scottish. I am a little more traditional, leaning towards the Biblical, or otherwise old fashioned. So the conversations would go like this....


Deborah: How about Alexander?


Loren: Nah, but ooh, how about Magnus??


Deborah: Um, no. What about Joseph?


Loren: No, but you are going to love this... Kermit! Or Casper!


Deborah: Riiiiiiiight.


One of the names we always had an argument about was Linus. Loren loooooooves Linus. It was his name as a dj in college. Linus is the inventor of RHYTHM in Greek mythology, for goodness sakes. Humphrey Bogart, Matt Damon and Harrison Ford have all played characters named Linus. Linux was founded by a Linus. It is also the name of popes and a nobel prize winner. And as some of you might now, a Peanuts character. Who Loren also loves. Big Peanuts fan. It also falls into the quirky, offbeat category. Now, I think if your last name is, say, Jones, you might be able to get away with naming a child Linus. When your last name is Matlick, you have to be a little more careful. I have always been very vocally opposed to it as a first name. And when I say always, I don't think it actually came up on our first date, but definitely soon thereafter. So, we are at the beer monster campout last summer, and I had just started to get attached to the name Benjamin. We are laying our tent before bed, talking about names, which we did basically constantly, and the discussion went like this:


Deborah: "Benjamin?"


Loren: "No."


Deborah: "Benjamin Linus?"


Loren: "Done!"


We kept throwing around other possibilities, but this was the front runner, even though I had said it a little jokingly. Part of the name compromise was that if I got to have a more traditional first name, Loren would get to pick the midddle name, although we both still had veto power. Anyway, one of the other names that was very much in contention for the middle position was Adams. It has a few things going for it. First off, who doesn't want to be named after a mountain? Especially if you turn out to be a mountain climber? (No pressure though, Buster) And, this was a mountain that Loren and I had climbed together, and it was kind of a big deal for us. And (here is the kicker) it creates the initials BAM! BAM BAM BAM! Which is so much fun. So fast forward to about 3 weeks before due date. Loren reads an article on MSN or something in which he learns that the bad guy on "Lost" is named Ben Linus. Hmm. Now, are not Lost watchers. Have never seen it. Could not tell you if this is the one about crashing a plane on an island (seems logical), fighting crime, or escaping from prison. But it was still bothersome. Bothersome enough too tip the scale in favor of Adams. Meaningful to us, geographical, great initials, and very presidential, just in case.

But I know we have always second guessed it a little. I think if we were to do it over again, we probably would go the other way. Then, the other day Auntie Cookie had Jammy at the kids school, and one of the other moms says to her "Well isn't he just the cutest little Linus ever!" And its true. He is kind of a little Linus. And the older he gets, the more Linusy he becomes. And it really got both of us thinking about this again. So here is the question. This kid already has a bjillion names. He is known as (in descending order of popularity of use) Benjamin, Jammy, Jam, Jameroo, Buster, Mr. Buster, Mr. Buster Pants, Buddy, Benito, Benbino, Jamster, Jam Master J, and finally Bam. (Really the only ones we are against are Ben, Benny, and Benji. Otherwise feel free to come up with your own.) Should we just add Linus to the nick name list? As in, come here you cute little Linus you? Should we add it to his name unoffiically? As in Benjamin Linus Adams Matlick (BLAM! is still pretty cool)? Should we add it officially? Should we change it officially? As in Benjamin Linus Matlick? Should we leave it alone, because he already has a perfectly good name?


So that is the question of the day. Poll results have no bearing on any decisions at all, so don't get carried away. But I am curious to hear opinions on this.