Grandma

Today, in the children's clothing aisle of the Salvation Army, something magical happened.  Cal, looking up from the trucks he had collected, saw that my mother was no longer standing next to him.  "Grandma?  Grandma?  Grandma go?"  he asked me.  I turned to my mom, who had just wandered around the corner and asked "Did you hear that?!?  He said 'Grandma!'" 

That's right, after 23 months, and countless other words, Cal finally says "Grandma."

For some reason, Cal has been stubborn about naming some of the people closest to him.  He will point if you ask "Where's Grandma?", but the words were never there, and that killed my mother.  She wanted something - Nana, Gigi, Gaga, Grammy - she wasn't picky.  She just wanted this sweet little boy to call her by name. 

It clicked all of a sudden - like he was waiting until he could say it perfectly before he debuted his new word.  Once he started, there was no stopping him.  In fact, he threw an absolute tantrum when we left Salvation Army in separate cars.  There were tears and sobs, and plaintive cries for his grandma.  Although I didn't get my phone out fast enough, I did manage to catch this as he was winding down.

Heart.melted.