I was looking at some recent photos of my little man. I got a bit misty-eyed when I realized he’s no longer a baby. He’s not even a toddler anymore. He’s a full-fledge kid!

“I’m A BIG KID, MOM,” he often asserts. He’s like a terrier who thinks he’s a St. Bernard.

But where did my “little bun” go?

Don’t get me wrong. He still likes to snuggle. He still giggles when I give him a big, fat kiss on the cheek. He still wakes up sometimes, convinced monsters are under his bed. But he dresses himself now. He brushes is own teeth. He even gets into his booster seat and fastens his own seatbelt. He is definitely his own person. And he’ll let you know that too.

He has a fondness for polysyllabic verbage. He doesn’t say, “car”, he says “vehicles.” He’ll sometimes say, “spectacular” instead of “great.” He sometimes even uses the word, “phenominal.” (But it comes out sounding like, “Ben-ommmm-in-o”.) He knows how roads are made, what type of tractor is needed for what farming chore and can tell you whether the field he’s looking at contains bean, wheat or corn. And he knows what he wants to be when he grows up. I don’t even know what I want to be when I grow up.

There are days when I think in exaspiration, “When are you going to leave for college and only call when you need money?”

But there are many, many more days when I look into his eyes and see boundless enthusiasm, energy, love, and happiness. And I think, “Oh God. Someday you’re going to leave for college and only call when you need money. I’m not ready for that!”

Dig if you will the picture…