Heaven Help Us. There's a Teenager in the House.

Josh is THIRTEEN today. He really truly is. And just to make matters worse, he got a CELL PHONE for his birthday.

A teenager with a cellphone.

He wasn't always a teenager. Once he was a little tiny blond boy with curls who played with imaginary friends, loved puddles, and ate quesadillas, eggnog, pancakes, and not much else. We went to the library twice a week. He loved hanging out with his friend Mathew. He loved work trucks of all varieties.

And now he's a teenager. He loves hamburgers (they used to make him gag), pizza, and pie. He plays the cello and the piano. He likes tennis and skiing. He adores soccer. He loves little children, especially babies, and they love him. He reads too late at night. He sometimes gives us attitude. He often makes us laugh. And did I mention he now has a cell phone?

My mother-in-law tells me that she loved having teenagers, that she missed them when they grew up and moved out of the house. She also tells me that she was terribly sad at the end of summer vacation when they went back to school. Here's hoping that I'll feel the same way for the next six years. I really really really love this kid. I hope he maneuvers his way through these tricky years with grace, good friends, a lot of fun, and few major mistakes. I hope we're all living at the end of it. And I hope he doesn't go over his text message limit.