A Couple of Things I Want to Remember

Thing One:

Today was the new parent orientation for Nathan’s new school. Kindergarten, here we come! The boys played in the school’s gym while the parents learned a few things about the school. Zef was a little hesitant to be left there, but he ended up having a great time, of course.

We got home fairly late and both boys were totally worn out. Zef, especially, was more than ready for bed. He hit his limit and started wailing. “Did exercises at Nathan’s cooooool!”

“Oh, buddy, did you get lots of exercise at Nathan’s school and now you’re all worn out?”

“Yesssss!”

Most pathetic little guy ever.

…

Thing Two:

Nathan’s new school principal has a difficult name for little mouths to pronounce. Nathan said it was weird; I told him it was just different than names he’s used to hearing and that it was a name that he probably got from his mom or his dad.

I pointed out that most kids have the same last name as their dad and that a lot of kids, like his best friend, have the same last name as their mom.

Then I asked him about his last name. (If you don’t already know, Mike and I gave our boys a last name that is a combination of both our names. The first three letters are from my name and the last five are from his name.)

He mulled it over for a moment, then asked me what my whole name was. It was lovely watching him realize that our last names both started with the same sounds.

Then he asked me what his dad’s whole name was. He didn’t see the connection right away, but he got it with a little hint. And when he got it, a great big grin made me know that we definitely made the right choice in naming our boys. He was pleased as punch that his name was a combination of his parent’s names.

Then he realized his brother has the same name as he does and declared us the “Andecker family.”  He’s exactly right.