Names, last and otherwise

Isaac has a hyphenated last name -- the first half is my last name, and the second half is Craig's last name.

For reasons of security, I won't tell you exactly what it is. Let's just say that R_ will represent my last name, and T_ will represent Craig's. So Isaac's last name is R_-T_. (This is slightly ridiculous, I know -- half my readers already know our last names, and the other half could discover them with a few mouse clicks and good guesswork.)

He has been able to say both R_ and T_ since April, referring to my paternal grandmother and Craig's parents, but we never made an effort to tell him what his own last name was. But now that he can pronounce Isaac properly, the time seemed right. So when he received a birthday invitation in the mail last Thursday, I showed him that the envelope was addressed to him. "See, it says Isaac R_-T_," I said. "That's you! R_-T_ is your last name."

"R_-T_," Isaac said.

- - - - -

This revelation seemed to spark an interest in names. Over the weekend, Isaac overheard me saying Craig's name, and he repeated it curiously. "Craig is Daddy's name," I said. So then my brother asked Isaac what his mama's name was.

"Nicole," Isaac said, without prompting. We laughed in surprise.

"And what's Uncle Joel's name?" my brother asked Isaac.

"Hmm," Isaac said, unfamiliar with trick questions.

"Joel! Uncle Joel's name is Joel R_," my brother said.

- - - - -

And this brings us to last evening's dinner table discussion. As we ate our Thai stir-fried chicken and eggplant, we all told Isaac what our last names were -- two R_s, one T_, and an R_-T_.

"Joel R_," Isaac said, indicating Joel. "Not R_," he said, indicating Craig.

"And what's your name?" someone asked Isaac.

"Nicole R_," Isaac said.

"No, that's Mama's name! Your name is Isaac R_-T_."

"Both names," Isaac said.

"Yes," we told him. "We gave you both of our last names -- Mama's name and Dad's name."

"Good idea," Isaac said. "Thank you, Mama and Dad."