Happy birthday to my littlest boy

It's 12:01 on March 24th so that makes it official. My littlest boy is now 16. *sigh* I guess "boy" and "16" don't really go together very well, especially if you ask a 16 year-old boy but I'm the mom and I'm writing this so I get to say it. I won't get to say it much more anyway. My kids are now 20, 18 and 16 so I suppose young man is a better term. I still feel like a kid myself so I'm having a hard time believing that they have really been around that many years.

My spring baby, born only a week after a major storm dumped 3 feet of snow on our town. Since all of my kids were born before their due date I had several friends offer to get my to the hospital by 4 wheel drive, snowmobile, snowplow, or whatever it took if I needed to go then. Fortunately I didn't need to. You arrived at just the right time and we came home from the hospital with less snow on a gorgeous sunny day.

Being the youngest you've been the baby but you've also grown up the fastest having two brothers to follow. And follow you did except when you were leading. You were fearless and fast. Your little legs were a blur. You broke your arm twice (within six months!) before you were five. Nothing slowed you down or held you back and your gorgeous curls and sweet, sweet smile didn't hurt when you were charming people. And charm you did. Wherever I would take you someone would always greet you by name. I usually didn't know them but they knew you because they had seen you at a ball game, knew your brothers, watched you speed by in your tiny Batman roller skates... you made an impression.

Oh so quickly you went from riding in your Little Tyke plastic car to preparing for your driver's permit. In a few months it will be your license. While it's nice for you all to be able to drive yourself to all of your activities I will miss our time together in the car. I enjoy our one-on-one chats when we drive back and forth. It gives me a few rare moments to catch up on your day, your homework, your life. And you don't roll your eyes when I ask you a question or grunt a reply instead of an answer as is often the case with teenagers. I may not get a lot of details but you talk, you listen (kind of) and we laugh.

My youngest, my little boy, my baby is now 16 and a tall, funny, kind and very handsome young man. For me it's bittersweet. The time is going too fast but you and your brothers are the best thing that's ever happened to me and I'm so very proud you're mine. I love you littlest boy.


(This is a post that I started back in March and it just didn't seem right. I stopped and started it several times. But now when I look back at it, it's exactly what I wanted to say.)