So you wanna know … how PB&J became ETC

It’s a question we’re frequently asked: How did you choose their names?

Sorry to disappoint, but the story isn’t terribly exciting.

Eleanor

Her name was the only one that survived the months-long daydream-discussions about names for our future offspring and is the reason “PB&J” was never meant to be a teaser for their official names. We both loved it and thought it sounded perfect paired with my middle name. Thus, we planned to name our first girl Eleanor.

Tobias

Our first boy was to have Rob’s middle name. That was decided ages ago. What to go with that name, though? Convinced we were having two boys, we had the second boy’s full name picked out – the first being one that we just couldn’t pair with the middle name Boy 1 would share with Rob. Just couldn’t. And so the epic discussion began.

Rob vetoed every name I suggested, sometimes with a “BLECH!” and sometimes with a “meh.”

My suggestion for Toby was first, “Toby,” but then I decided that was more of a nickname. You know, in case he wants to be President of the United States some day.

“Toby” got a “BLECH!” from Rob, who said the only Tobys he ever “knew” were Toby Keith (he hates country music) and Toby Flenderson (Michael Scott hates Toby Flenderson).

Tobey Maguire, I pointed out, is pretty rad.

Rob rolled his eyes.

“BLECH!” turned to “meh” after a bit, and while I’d occasionally ask if he had any other suggestions, Rob could never come up with anything he truly liked.

There, in labor and delivery triage while we waited to be transferred to my room in L&D, I looked at Rob during a break from crying and asked, “Any ideas for Baby B’s name, or are you finally OK with Tobias?”

I don’t know if Rob settled that morning or if perfection clicked into place, but Tobias’s name fits him perfectly, and we couldn’t imagine any other that would be better.

Callista

Callista, Baby C in utero, made it her Thing to deliver surprises while in utero.

Whether it was her stealthy ninja moves (move 1, move 2) or her big gender surprise – she kept us on our toes.

Yes, we thought for sure that A (Eleanor) was a girl (correct!), B (Toby) was a boy (correct!) and C (Callista) was a second boy (WRONG!). Imagine my shock when the ultrasound tech pointed out the unmistakable girl parts on Baby C.

Thus began the hunt for another girl name, something we, for 15 weeks, never once thought about.

Like it does with many other conundrums, the Internet saved me. Nymbler, to be more exact. The site lets you search for a name based on its similarity (origin, meaning, sound) to names you enter into the search fields.

I entered “Eleanor” and “Tobias,” (I loved it even though Rob didn’t), and there, among the names it returned, was Callista. It caught my eye, and I suggested it to Rob, who fell in love with it.

I wasn’t sold on her name for a few weeks, but I couldn’t think of anything better, and Rob wouldn’t hear anything else anyhow.

Middle names

We’re being all smug about those, not telling you, Internet Dweller. It’s a matter of privacy, one of the nuggets we keep for our IRL lives.

I can tell you that, while their first names are ones we chose just for them, their middle names are family names.

Eleanor shares my middle name, which was also my birth mom’s middle name.

Tobias shares Rob’s middle name, which he also shares with his father. It was also the first name of Rob’s grandfather.

Callista’s middle name is the same as my grandmother’s middle (or was it her second first name?) name.

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We didn’t plan to have triplety initials, but I can’t lie when I say it’s pretty sweet that their initials (in the order of their in-utero position) spell out the abbreviation for et cetera. I’m playing with the idea of getting a tattoo in honor of my ETC babes someday, when I can figure out what and where it should go.