What's in a name

At our last pediatrician appointment, one of the "developmental" questions was this:

Does the baby respond when you call his name?

Hmm. To answer that, I'd have to have actually CALLED him by name like, on a regular basis, no? As it turns out, I call my baby by his real name about as often as I write his real name on this blog. Mostly it's "Baby," or "Flurg," "Bubba," "Bug," "Smoochie Pie," "Lovey Dove"...I think you get the idea. I almost NEVER call him by name.

The other thing is, Baby J doesn't seem to be a very verbal baby. OK, I know I shouldn't expect him to be forming complex thoughts, but he actually rarely makes noise or talking-like sounds. He has his days when he'll spend an hour squeaking and babbling, but those are definitely the exception.

[Also, he does this adorable thing where he says "Mmm!!" enthusiastically with every bite of baby food I give him. I see we already have common interests.]

ANYway. I'm wondering if I'm doing enough word-thing-connection drills with him.

So for the past few days I've been doing an exercise. I look right in his eyes and point to his chest and say
"J----" (ok but I use the real word).
"YOUR NAME IS J----."

Over and over and over. I don't think he really gets it yet.

There's another reason I need to emblazon his name in his mind early on. For whatever reason, many, many, MANY people OFTEN confuse his name with another Bible name related to water: Noah. If you have mistakenly called my baby by this name, you are in good company, do not be ashamed. It's not something I saw coming AT ALL, but I now realize this will be his lot in life. I can sympathize; I am and have always been called by names that are not mine: Melissa, Martha, Marsha most commonly.

So. Sorry dude. In addition to seasonal allergies and bad teeth (please refer to our pre-braces pictures), we seem to have doomed you to a life of "Actually, my name is J----."

But only if I can actually teach you your name first.