The Evy-lution of a Name

Years ago Jonny and I easily agreed that Evelyn would be the name of our next baby girl. (She is named after his Grandma Evelyn, and Ju Ju is named after my Grandma Julia.) But we weren't quite in line with what nickname to adopt. I was all for Evie (rhymes with TV) and Jonny was liking Evy (rhymes with heavy). During the pregnancy the kids started calling her Evie. I figured I had won the nickname debate and that was that.

Then, nearly three months ago, along came Evelyn. And that's what I called her. Evelyn. Even though the kids would sometimes call her Evie, it wouldn't roll of the tongue for me. The few times I did call her that I kind of had to force it and it just didn't sound right. 

Meanwhile, on occasion Jonny was calling her Evy. He surely wasn't doing it out of spite, as of course it comes more naturally since it has the same vowel sound as her full name. And do you know what? I really started loving the sound of it. It even occurred to me that she looks more like an Evy than an Evie. 

So Evy* it is. And I love it. But mostly I love her. She is getting more and more chubby, which makes her funny little knee dimples even more adorable. She coos and smiles at me when she wakes up in the morning. Gabe always wants to "have a kiss of Evelyn" and Julia loves babbling baby-talk to her. As for Jonny, I am sure he is in love with every little thing about his Evy.

*I am still not positive Evy is the best spelling. At first I thought Evvy looked right. But that looks like it has a w in it when handwritten. Hmmm. There is also Evi, or Evey, or even Evie could be pronounced that way. So I suppose it doesn't really matter. I think I like the simplicity of spelling it Evy. And who knows, maybe she will go by Evelyn most of the time so it won't quite matter.