He's not being rude and he's definitely not hard-of-hearing. If my son doesn't answer when you call his name, it's probably because he still doesn't know what it is. How could he? The last time he heard it was from a nurse as we were leaving the hospital with him for the first time. For all the hours my husband and I spent discussing and even arguing about what to call our son, his birth name never made it past the maternity ward.
I found an old email that I wrote to a friend just days after our baby was "renamed":
It was obvious (my husband) was trying to help (our daughter) feel more comfortable around her new baby brother. While holding the baby in his arms, he said, "Hey girl, come over here and check out the little dude. Can you say 'Dude'?" Without a moment's hesitation, she blurted out,"Duuude!" We were stunned. This from a girl who's hardly spoken a single word at all, who refuses to say "mama", "dada", or even "spa pedicure" for all my pleadings. To our utter amazement, she said "Dude", clear as day, with perfect pronunciation. The bigger surprise was the next morning when the baby started crying, and we heard a little voice from her room yell, "Baby Duuuuude?!!" I'm sure you can imagine the great effort (my husband) made to hide the grin on his face. She might as well have just pulled off her first barrel at River Jetties in his proud mind. I corrected her, but she just stared blankly back at me and again yelled for "Baby Duuuuude!" It's been a couple of days now, and although I have been working to reprogram the baby's birth name in her mind, she still refers to him as "Baby Dude". I've almost completely given up and have actually heard the words "Baby Dude" come out of my own mouth a few times. You know, I always wondered if my kids would end up with nicknames, but I just never imagined I'd have a"Baby Dude" less than two weeks after in utero.
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