Twelve

 Can you believe it?  The baby who started this whole blog... he's twelve. In a blink, a fleeting breath of time, we are here.
Seems like only yesterday, holding this baby Jack in my arms, not quite sure what to do with him or what to expect from my new life as a mom...

 Remember this handsome little devil, 18 months of handsome, that perfect hair and dimple and his funny little mispronounced words, his love for diggers and trucks and sticks and motorcycles...

 Or this little boy, ornery and bright and funny and charming, hesitant to try new things but so ready to learn it all...

 And now, twelve.  So many feelings for a mom, here on the edge of the teenage years.  There's barely a trace of my little boy in this lanky, strong young man... and yet he's exactly the same.  In the eyes, the dimple, the set of those still smooth (for just a little bit longer!) sweet, soft cheeks.   Glimpses of the future are there, too, in his humor and in his emerging kindness and maturity.  At twelve, we've put behind us almost all of the tantrums and breakdowns and anxiety that plagued my beautiful little boy.  Almost like a light switch, he's better able to handle life, evening out as he grows into himself.  Sometimes I miss that tiny boy of mine so much it hurts, and I long to hold his little soft body in my arms again, to stay up nights and never complain, to let him nurse as long as he wants and never even try to put him down to do other things because it just went so fast.  Everyone said it would and I didn't believe them.  Couldn't believe them, there in the trenches with all those moments that weren't picture perfect, that were messy and exhausting and ridiculously hard and ridiculously boring.  But it went so fast!  And here we are at twelve and there is no going back.  Only trying to hold on to THIS moment with my son as he travels down this one-way road to adulthood...

Twelve is...

Kindness and a soft heart for animals, always...

Twelve is...silliness and risk-taking and great long arms and legs every which way....

Twelve is sometimes easy! Charming smiles and mature humor and the ability to be a real help every now and then... off set by a strong desire to a. antagonize his sister and b. play minecraft at all possible moments, and the tendency to fly off the handle when confronted about these things.  Twelve is sometimes not easy at all...

 Twelve is... taller than me!  By a great deal.

Twelve is smart and capable and often moody and reticent.  Twelve avoids the camera and blocks out the world with headphones... and chats companionably at family dinners, too. A bundle of contradictions as always, my boy...

We celebrated this year in the "drawn out" fashion, starting with a quick visit with Auntie Bec, who was in town for a wedding.

 Also the Greek Fest, which brings back memories of nervous anticipation every year, seeing the banner go up and wondering if we'd have our baby by the time of the festival.  Well, not that first year!  I hobbled through the flea market like a very pregnant hippo.  But here we are!   We've got our baby... and he orders his own gyro.

Some beach time and a little dog festival and Lake Farmpark  on Jack's last weekend of eleven...

 .. and a nice family celebration to mark the real deal.  Jack chose "breakfast for dinner" for our meal and had a nice time being spoiled with new wireless earbuds and a great deal of cash (the only thing he asked for!).  This boy is a pre-teen for sure.

 Then, fast forward two weeks!  We had our first "off site" party this year and its a change for us to have to take a booking schedule into account when organizing for a birthday!  The best date ended up being September 7th... but our afternoon at Shaker Rocks was worth the wait! 

I have to say, there's a lot to be said for an off-site party.  The photo below shows the extent of my party prep, with the addition of some pizza and chips to feed the crew.  And that's all I had to do!  No cleaning, before or after, and trained professionals were on hand to entertain the kids.  Can't lose!

 The kids had a fabulous time.  Even Jack, who'd not done this kind of climbing before, but jumped in with enthusiasm and handled adversity like, well, a twelve year old.  I couldn't get over the way he tried again and again to tackle and conquer one particular path up the wall... not giving up til he did it. 

 Proud of this kid.

 The whole group of boys were pretty fun to hang out with.  Nice kids.  I am so grateful that twelve, for Jack, comes with good friends who I genuinely like. 

 Twelve is going to be fun, I think.