The Boy Formerly Known as Baby Four!

2 days. That's how long after his birth it took the formerly known "Baby Four" to be given a name.  Two days, plus the 32 weeks prior since we had found out about the pregnancy.

We had a whole list of names that we, well, really, that I was considering.  Some,  many, were outlandish and crazy.   Some were ones I actually liked.  Few were names that Todd deliberated as a possibility.  Any name he did regard as a potential name for his son, a determination made by his hesitation to say NO WAY, a lack of response at all, or, in some cases, a full-on MAYBE,  got moved to the short list.  The short list was where I assumed our baby's name would come from.

Armed with that list stored in my phone, I figured we would choose from the 8 names and come to an agreement within an hour from his birth, even before I was transferred to a room and was allowed visitors. In fact, of the 8, Todd only "sort of" liked 3 of them so I really never anticipated it would take us almost as many days to choose between 3 names.  Yet, it did.  We were those people that I never understood.  The people that referred to their newborn as "baby." The people that announced the birth of their nameless child.  Yep, that was us.

I had some first choice names all along, names that Todd originally said maybe to but, somewhere between my suggestion and baby's birth, they all became flat NO's.  And, even so, those names were less appealing to me as I held my gorgeous boy in my hand.  Stratton, Keaton, Burke; none of them seemed right for this olive skinned, dark-haired, peanut in my arms.  Dax, the name that I believed we would end up settling on, was now out of consideration as Todd decided he no longer liked it.  And, though I floated a few other names past my naming partner, it was as if he didn't hear me because he didn't even ponder them momentarily.

There we were, left with Dash, the in-utero nickname coined by our close friend, or the under the radar, not much mentioned but still there on the list, Decker. 

We were divided, Todd thinking he wanted Dash and me, unsure, but not wanting Dash. A name I thought was cute but not my son's name.  I debated it for days. I even called him Dash to try it on. It was a bit too cartoon-y for me.  We were stressed out about it and getting near settling on it just to pick a name. But then, the final straw of rejection, not only for me but for Todd too, was the double whammy of the term of endearment "Dashy" and the association of the name with the Kardashian clothing line.  No thanks, not interested in anything Kardashian related. 

And, so, it became Decker.  Dex, as a nickname. A different name!  One, I feel, sounds strong, and intelligent.  

Decker Tovsky.

That's our baby 4.