Sometimes when I'm falling asleep or waking up I hear no sounds from outside. I'm always listening music when I'm going to sleep so I have good experiment sample. So - it looks like I'm "deaf" 2-3 sec before I fully wake up especially when it is near nREM phase. In that period of time I'm partially aware, and when I'm fully awake then everything is normal. I think it can be sign of progress, because during sleep brain just ignore senses from outside and I think my awarness is rising faster than other processes during waking up.
What do you think?