Behind the name

Last night was rough. Rain finally came to our drought-ridden area, but it came in a loud and flashy way. Olivia has developed a severe phobia of lightning. Also, she was terrorized in the car last night by a flesh-eating moth (actually, a normal moth, but try convincing Olivia of that), so she had residual nightmares from that. So between the storm, the nightmares and Marty's need to eat, I got about four hours of sleep in fits and starts. I am functioning on coffee and the hope that we will all get to nap today since Olivia will need one after her horrendous night of sleep. It will happen, right?

Today's topic: the baby's name.

From the beginning (like, before Olivia), we had chosen Roderick for a boy's middle name. It is Joe's grampa's name. Grampa just turned 96 and no one in the family has yet honored him with a namesake, so we decided to do it.

For the first name, we wanted a name that was traditional but uncommon. I was hoping he would have a name that was unique among his peers. The very last thing I wanted was for him to be identified by his color... as in, "Which Jacob? Oh, the black one." Plus, I like unique names. Olivia notwithstanding.

And we also thought it would be neat to name him after a black saint. After coming up with a list of names, "Martin" was Joe's favorite, after Martin de Porres. I wasn't yet sold on the name, so I researched his story.

I learned that Martin de Porres was born in Lima, Peru and was mixed race. He was a close friend of St. Rose of Lima (who is Olivia's patron saint...Olivia Rose). He is listed as the patron saint of people of mixed race and those seeking interracial harmony, among other things.

Something about the story just struck a cord with me. After a few days of testing it out in my mind, "Martin" grew on me. So, "Martin Roderick" he became. I most often call him Marty. Olivia insists "his name is MARTIN." Either way, it works.

Here is a picture of Olivia singing her brother to sleep after his bottle this morning. And now I am going to go wash bottles. And nap. If I'm lucky.