Our children's names (EggEgg)

Dearest EggEgg,

Do you know we named you Toby  for a very special reason?  You are named after Daddy! In fact, your very name means "Tony's baby" to me.  Daddy and I were thrilled when you arrived in this world, and you were born at a time of change.  Mami is at a career cross-road, burnt out with disillusion on the corporate world.  I took up a mathematics graduate course, studying feverishly as a mental diversion.  I was in search of a direction in life.  Daddy has just started his first long-term job after a long period of unhappy unemployment.  Your grandparents were agitated that we were not properly married.  It was a time of confusion, uncertainty, and stress.

You came, and brought joy to us all. Your Chinese name 劉天樂 means "happiness sent from God 天賜的歡樂".  Watching you sleeping in my arms has reminded me of my mortality, and I was urged by an unseen force to seek God and to reconnect with Him.   

On the other hand, your grandparents like to interpret your name in another way, they say it means "you're happy everyday 劉天樂,天天都快樂".  No, I beg to differ.  You have never been an easy child, even now that you are 4 years old.  With health, you had lactose intolerance, soy allergy, eczema, asthma, speech delay, and anxiety attacks.  You've used up my lifetime store of patience with your incessant whinging and whining.

However, when you're not in one of your moods, you could look like you're the happiest kid in the world, with that smile on your face...