12 years old

My baby boy is 12 years old today.  My, how the time has flown by.  People always used to tell me that would happen, but I didn't really understand.  How can you truly explain to someone how fleeting those precious moments that fill up years will seem?  How time just seems to scurry past at lightning speed while you grasp at and savor those moments.

He is almost as tall as me, now - as he gleefully points out almost daily.  I no longer have to bend to hug him (haven't for quite awhile now, actually).  He is no longer the 'cheap date' at a restaurant.  (we had quite a deal going there for awhile with a senior discount and a child discount at the same table...)   :D  He is now officially a 'pre-teen'.  Goodness.

I look forward to watching him grow and mature through the coming teen years.  I can't wait to see what passions will spark and take flight - what will become 'his thing'.  I don't know all that he will become; I only know that I will be here loving, encouraging, watching and savoring those oh so fleeting moments of what is left of his 'childhood'.  Those years that just go so fast.