Rite of Passage upside the head

It started a little more than a week ago. I definitely never saw it coming and feel as though I've been hit with a frying pan. It repeats itself several times each day almost like a constantly tugging reminder to me. It chips away at my heart every time it rears it's ugly head but things will never again be as they were before.

Bam-Bam has started calling me mom.

Not mommy, actually mummy, like the old three year old he used to be. I'm mom to the almost 4 year old gentleman that I spend each day with. I had hoped so deeply that it would be a passing thing. He had asked permission to call me "just mom" one day while driving along in the car and I said ok thinking it would be a passing fancy. I'd hoped that when he awoke the next morning the fad would be gone and I'd return to the person I used to be. No such luck.

"Mom, can I have a spoon yogurt?"
"Mom, I need to go potty."
"Mom, where is my other mitten?"
"Mom, I love you."

Since that day, I've noticed other little points of independence I hadn't prepared for either. The successful use of the tv remote. Managing to get fully dressed each morning by himself. Using a regular cup without spilling his drink at dinner. Completing the next level of his Incredibles game on his Gameboy without daddy or I helping him. And, just tonight, putting the spoon that he had to use to get food onto his fork at dinner back into the utensil drawer because, as he put it, he's "fine" without it.

Ouch. I miss my baby.