When does a child know their name?

It is just a shock... like wow! My child's brain works!

It was inevitable and I knew it would happen, but for it to happen in such a short amount of time is just surprising to me.
MJ has learned his name. It is actually pretty adorable... amazing, exciting, cool and just plain elementary, but as a parent... it's well... wonderful!

I noticed it on Monday morning. I woke up to the sound of my wife opening the bedroom door from the hallway on her way to the bathroom to take a shower. She had MJ in her arms and he was wearing a six-month old onesie which we had no idea he had grown into.

"I had to do it," said Laura.

"what?" I asked while rubbing my eyes with a sleepy tone in my voice.

"I had to open the next drawer.." she replied. "He is getting so big I didn't even notice his three months onesies were too small now!"

In MJ's nursery we have drawers under his changing table where we keep the bulk of his clothes. In the top drawer there are 3-6 month onesies and below that, in the second drawer are his 6-9 month onesies and t-shirts... and in the third drawer from the top are his shorts, pants and swim suits. Now granted until this past week he could still wear newborn shorts but now has graduated to 3 months.

"Noooooo.." I said with a gasp.

"Yep.." said Laura, "it's so sad."

First our little boy does not have to be swaddled, now he is growing into 6 months clothes and he is only 5 months old! This is so wrong!

Back to what I was saying... MJ has learned his name. Laura slide him down into his little jeep, where we put him while we try and get ready to go to work... it keeps him occupied long enough for "My Friend's Tigger & Pooh" to come on the Disney Channel... his favorite show.

Laura rolls the car across the wooden bedroom floor and you can hear a combination of beeps and car gears as his pushes each button on the quasi mobile toy.

"Good morning, Mauldin!" I said to him, and to my amazement, he turned his head... he looked right at me! Like "what up pops?"

I wasn't sure if he just heard my voice and turned so he went back to playing with the various buttons and acting as if he were driving his jeep.

I said it again, "Mauldin!" He jerked his head around in my direction.... I couldn't believe it! Laura smiled from ear to ear... Our little man is growing up... he knows his name...

Now if he would only learn to say mine... "Daddy," that will be even better!

I'm not too picky...I would accept "Da-da" too!