Tuesday, November 1, 2011

The New Baby


Yes, they laughed at me. Everybody laughed at me. And I dare say that you would have laughed at me too, during all those months when I remained steadfast in my forecast that the new baby would be a boy, and would be given a strong, virile, dynamic, forename like IAN.

Well, I was proved right. As you can see, Kathy’s new grandson has all the attributes of a fine wing forward - 21.3 inches tall and weighing in at over 9lb.

The proud parents had already agreed on a name for a baby girl, but they hadn’t quite settled on a name for a baby boy. And so the matter remained undecided for the next few weeks, whilst all sorts of alternative male names were successively mooted and then discarded.

And occasionally, I would chip in with my halfpennyworth: “How about a name like IAN?” I would suggest, helpfully.

So I was delighted when they settled on JACK.

You see, IAN is the Scottish for John, and a common nickname for John is JACK. Moreover, the first letters in IAN and JACK (I and J) are alphabetically consecutive, and both names share the same second letter (A).

And if we consider each letter in the alphabet to be represented by its sequence number (A=1, B=2, C=3 and so on), we find that the C plus K in JACK is equal to the N in IAN.

So the two names are virtually identical :-)

But the really exciting outcome is this: the letters J,A,C,K equate to 10,1,3,11 which multiply up to 330, and these digits sum to SIX, whilst the letters I,A,N equate to 9,1,14 which multiply up to 126, and these digits sum to NINE.

The answer is always 69.

Apart from the baby, what can possibly be more perfect than that?
: - )

9 comments:

Jon said...

You can make statistics prove whatever you want!

Bonny lad though, whatever he is called.

Dolores Doolittle said...

CI this post brings a beaming tear to one's eye... What a gorgeous little fella he is, and such a questioning gaze - obviously pulsatingly intelligent as well as ready for the rugby field.

'Jack' is perfect,and how splendid it's so closely linked with the fine name of Ian...

Dolores Doolittle said...

Idiot! Forgot to say Huge Congratulations to Kathy and you and all the family!

Expat said...

A regular Jack The Lad, I'll be bound! Good, strong name. I like that. Congratulations to the proud parents and grandparents.

CI, what shall you be called? My other half is known as Grumpy (his choice, shortened these days to Grumps). The grandkids get a kick out of that, especially since with them he's a big old softy.

JW10 said...

What was wrong with Jock? :-)

Congratulations Grandad CI. The boy is a wee smasher (is smasher a rugby position?).

Best wishes to Kathy and family.

Bilby said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bilby said...

Oh, I didn't mean to remove it, just edit it!

How delightful! Dolores steered me to this, so thanks to her and congratulations to you and your family, Canary.

My father's name was Jack. Excellent choice! :)

Canary Islander said...

Crikey - you've all responded so quickly and with such lovely sentiments - thank you! Thank you!

Jon - there's a look in the little chap's eyes that suggests an eye for a figure or two...

Dolores - Yes! That questioning gaze made me gulp too!

Expat - before I quit smoking, I'm ashamed to say I was known as "Grandpa Puff", which didn't have quite the same cachet as the monikers applied to competing Grandads like "Grandpa Shooting" or "Grandpa Fun" :-(

JW - Thank you! I've just checked Wiki, and have discovered that the English are given twice as long to register a birth as the Scots. So it takes us 42 days to do the same as what you guys do in 21 days! It's a crazy world, isn't it?
:-)

Bilby - many thanks - we share a hugely special mutual friend!
:-)

Dolores Doolittle said...

CI - Love 'Grandpa Puff' - as in Puff the Magic Grandpa... But see you more as Grandpa Laugh-a-Lot!