A mother captured the moment her nine-month-old son saw his father for the first time with his new glasses.

The greeting was made all the more special because US Air Force captain Brandon Caldwell was returning from a two-month deployment to Antarctica, and was worried young Reagan might not remember him.

Reagan's mother, Amanda, filmed as her husband sang "patty-cake" with their son, who she told ABC7 was "loving having daddy back home". The family lives in upstate New York.

She added: "This was the hardest deployment yet by far and you can see how hard it was for Brandon to be away from Reagan by the emotion he showed when he finally had him in his arms again."

Reagan has glasses because he contracted a condition called Group B Strep some time after he was born, and ended up in intensive care with meningitis and sepsis, ABC7 reported.

Ms Caldwell, a former teacher who left the profession to look after her son, said she had been tested for the condition but received no guidance about it.

She said: "I was never told this could make my baby sick after leaving the hospital. I was not told anything about warning signs or symptoms of meningitis and sepsis.

"I want moms to ask questions, do research on it, and if you think there's something going on with your baby take them in to the paediatrician or the emergency room."

But Reagan is making good progress thanks to physical, occupational and speech therapy.

Independent News Service