The one about "Dad"

Reed loves his dad.  This is one amazing phenomenon.  One of his first words was Dad.  He loves dad's hats, dad's shoes, dad's truck, dad's bikes.  He wants dad to put him to bed at night and wake him up in the morning. I'm not even exaggerating.  This morning Mike had an early flight out for a business trip and was gone before Reed or I woke up, so when Reed started to stir I went in, scooped him up and brought him back to bed with me for some snuggling.  He kept whispering in his sleepy voice, "Dad. Dad. Dad."  Then he'd snuggle for a few minutes before looking around the room and again whispering, "Dad? Dad? Dad?"  Even when I stopped at the grocery store yesterday after picking him up from school, I went around the car to get him out and as soon as I opened the door Reed was asking, "Dad? Dad? Dad?"
Last week when the car was in the shop, I was driving the truck so when I picked him up after work and he saw the truck parked outside he immediately perks up and shouts, "Dad!"
Nope, buddy. Just Mom.
At random times during the day when we are home together, he will stand at his bedroom window, which looks out at the driveway and call to Dad.  If only it were possible to just summon him like that, but it's not so he's stuck here with chopped liver.
Reed will bring dad's shoes out of the closet, place them on the floor in front of him, and try to get his feet in.  With some help this can be accomplished and Reed beams with pride because he's in dad's shoes at last!
It took nearly two months for him to use the word Mom and when he finally did, I melted like sugar in water.  Well, I melted when he finally used it in the correct context.  The first time his mouth formed the word "momma" he was reading his Lion King book and when he turned to the last page, he points right at a picture of Pumba splashing in the mud and says clear as day, "Momma!" This was just over two weeks ago, almost exactly two months after saying "Dad" (which feels like a year!)  If you haven't seen the video, click here.  I posted it on my youtube channel.  Shortly afterward he started using the word correctly.  I don't know if I've mentioned this before but I found it really interesting how Reed seemed to take my existence for granted (if that's the right way to put it).  He has a photo album that he flips through while sitting in his highchair and it has lots of family photos.  Besides Dad, one of his first favorites was "Uncle Coy", he liked trying to say the words and he would automatically flip to the page and point to my brother with a big smile. Then he started recognizing others.  You could ask him, "Where's Grandma? Where's Aunt Jessie? Where's Grams?" But if you asked him, "Where's Mom?" He would give a blank look as if I asked him the square root of 6351.  If I turned to a page with me on it and asked, "Who's that?" he would just turn the page to someone else who was apparently more interesting.  It was like I'm some kind of vampire that doesn't show up in photographs. I might as well have been pointing to blank space.
There are theories to explain this- He feels too close to me, more like a part of him than a separate person.  Some people say M's are harder to say than D's. Sure, but if my son can say "Cookie" then he sure as hell can say Mom.  Plus he says other M words, like "more". So, that theory is crap.
It doesn't matter anymore- for two weeks he's been saying Mom now, so I'm the happiest girl on the block.  When he wants me, he lets me know it.  Usually its when I'm in the bathroom.  I suppose being inaccessible is more appealing, because once I'm behind a closed door I hear the stomping of his little feet approaching and his "Mom! Momma! Mom!" Followed by the flip of the door handle and the bright, mischievous smile of my 15 month old staring right at me!