And the hits just keep on comin'...

We add daily to the list of things that Tommy doesn't understand. Today it was his name. Yes, you read that right.

Since Katya decided to switch from Katie back to Katya, Tommy decided he'd like to be called Thomas. I told him I'd be happy to oblige any time he is in trouble but we aren't switching his name. We tried to explain that Katya's full name is actually Ekaterina and Katya is a nickname just like Tommy is. It never occurred to him that Tommy came from Thomas. Let's just say it took a while to get the nickname concept across. Keeping in mind that I call him any variety of nicknames in a given day. Tommy, Thomas, Crazy Bob, Little Jack (Noah is Big Jack). The list is endless. And he always knows I'm talking to him.

So we were discussing Tommy's full name at this point. His full name is Thomas Artem (said Artiom--the e is actually supposed to have two dots on top of it) Gabriel M. So, Sam said he could be called "Tag" for a nickname. We thought it sounded like a frat boy name, which actually added to the appeal for us to use it. Anyway, this lead to a half hour discussion on why exactly Tag would be a nickname he could have.

Well, what's your full name?
"Thomas Artem Gabriel M."
Right. So, what does Thomas start with?
"T"
Artem?
"O?" Nope.
"A?"
Gabriel?
"G."
So you put those together and what does it spell?
"T-a-g?"
See?
"Um...ok...but why would that be my name?"

I cannot confirm at this point that he understands any of our discussion at all . But the fun didn't stop there. He asked something else that for some reason I cannot remember the details of and I asked him to tell me his full name again.

"Thomas...Gabriel...Ar...no wait Thomas Artem...Gabrit?"
Gabrit????
"Gilbret?"
WHAT?
"Gibler?"
"Gabrit?"
At this point I was at the other end of the table trying to use my Darth Vader death grip on him. Which only made him giggle.

So I said in my most clearly enunciated voice, "It's Thomas Artem GABRIEL."
He responded with a look that told me he had never heard that word before in his life.

Um, Houston...we have a problem.

I'm hoping that by tomorrow those brain cells will have repaired themselves and restored his name to it's proper position in his memory. It was there just seconds before we lost contact. Where it went is anybody's guess.