Before You Know It

I am kicking myself. Who are you? Where is the little boy who had to be carried everywhere? Who could hardly babble? Who needed me to hold his bottle? Who would only fall asleep next to me? Long gone...and I am mad at myself for all of the times I said "I can't wait till he can..." You not only crawl, you speed crawl, especially if you see something you must have. You are becoming such a great communicator.  Forget a bottle, you are now completely on a sippy cup. You've also been sleeping in your own bed for months. I look at you everyday and ask you "who are you?" You are forever changing and each of those "I can't waits" that I once wished for are starting to come to life and although I am proud and so absolutely excited for you, I am also sad. I am sad that these moments are fleeting. Things are not fair my son, life isn't easy, and before you know it these very sentences will be leaving your lips as you, my angsty teenage son, slams his bedroom door (over something trivial, I am sure). Then before you know it you will be throwing a cap in the air and going away to college. Then before you know it you will fall in love and start a family. Life passes you by so hang on to every single moment, milk it for what its worth, photograph it, write about it, store it in your memory bank, because before you know it something, someday, somewhere will trigger that memory and you will ask yourself "where does the time go?" but you will revel in that memory and smile at once was, and it will be bittersweet, but oh so sweet nonetheless.