Name game

I love the name Piper, and for some reason it really seems to suit out little girl. But it's surprising how little we actually use her name. The majority of the time we use silly nicknames. Animals, foods, made up jibberish...pretty much anything goes. But a few weeks ago we read a baby milestone article that said by now our baby should know, and answer to her name. It's hard to say what Piper knows, because her responses are pretty much the same no matter what you say (you act excited? She's excited!) But Dustin was worried she would go to kindergarten writing "Muffin" on her homework, so he made it his personal mission to teach Piper her real name. For the last week he's been over the top, enunciating PIE-PERRR, pointing to her repeatedly, and saying "that's your NAME! That's YOU! Piper!" all day long. She pays about as much attention as she normally does, but I do think it might be sinking in. If you say her name she'll usually turn to look at you- but that's about all we have to go on. I still use Muffin, Punkin', Bunny, Small Fry, Sweetie, Lady, and Miss Maddie Mac (no, I don't have a good reason for that one) and a host of other silliness, with varying frequency. But Piper is on the rotation too, so I'm not too worried. After all, as a kid, I was referred to as phony-bologna, chatterbox and Piranha-Rana (for how fast I ate grapes) and I still turned out ok. Kinda.