Name

Every since we found out about LM we have been trying and trying to decide what we are going to call him. Remember that he is 3. He is not a tiny baby who does not know his name. However both TJ and I do not care for the name that his birth family gave him. It is not a normal name but his first and middle names are both made up and have no real meaning. His first name is so confusing that everyone including LM pronounces it differently. That is one of the reasons that we have decided that we are going to change his name just a little bit so that both of his names are recognizable and easily pronounced. We did not want to change it so much that he is going to not be able to transition to the new name. We have done a lot of research, some saying that he is so young that he will adjust with no problems and some saying that he will be resentful and that if we change it than in essence we are saying to him that we do not accept him and that we are trying to turn him into something else. That is so not why we are doing this. We are trying to give him a name that he can be proud of in the future something that as an adult he will not mind people calling him that. All we are planning on doing is switching a couple letters in his first name and the pronunciation of his middle name. Neither one are huge changes. And we are not going to push it. We plan on telling him that with the new mommy and daddy, new house, new town, new life, he is also getting a new name. We are only telling people the new name so that no one calls him by his old name. If he does not start responding or flat out refuses to answer to the new name than we will go back to a shortened version of his given name. Since the adoption will not be final for at least 6 months than we have plenty of time to figure it all out and decide whether we will legally change his name or not. But for now we are planning on the new name as being his legal name. He will always have the option when he is grown to change it back. But like with all adoptions, once the adoption is final, whatever we put on his birth certificate and new ss card will be legal and his old stuff is in a sealed file that not no one can get into. Whether it be us, his birth family, or even him as he grows, so in essence we will tell him what his real name was if he ever wants to change it back but for all legal reason and everything else the name that TJ and I choose is the name that will be his legally and in the eyes of everyone else. We cannot wait to see our son! We are definitely on countdown now. 10 days until we leave! So excited!