I remember very clearly, the day my son was born! The pain, the uncertainty, the terror of bringing a whole other life into the world. I also remember the hospital wardsperson, wheeling me down from the theatre after an emergency Cesarean. He took one look at my nine and a half pound bundle of screaming child and declared that he was a 'big un' and 'just wait till he grows up....he'll cost you a fortune to feed!' Talk about predicting the future!
Today, almost fourteen years later, the wardsperson's prophecy is beginning to ring more than true.
Looking back, even to photos of eighteen months ago, I hardly recognise the little boy staring out at the camera.
For today, I have child who is starting to live in a man's body!
Take for example, his height.....he tells me that he is about 180 centimetres (that is 5 foot and 11 1/2 inches for all you imperial people!). Yes, I now look up to him completely and the cost of restocking his clothing has been enormous over the last few months in particular.
If however, we a going by puppy sizing (ie the size of the paws determines the size of the grown dog!) then it's his shoes that tell the true story. Ok, he always had reasonably big feet....and wide! But when his shoes are only lasting approximately three months before needing to be upsized, the thought of future growth is almost scary! His newest pair of Nike shoes (yep, he's a Nike boy!) are actually a man's size US13/UK12!
Now people tell me that size can be genetic. At the moment, our almost 14 year old towers over both his father and me! In fact, his father has a man's size 7 shoe!
So it won't be long, I don't imagine when my 'almost-man' son starts taking more steps towards adulthood.....cars, girlfriends, jobs are suddenly in the near future! Just don't get me started on how much he eats though.....I don't think I could stand to think about any further growth!
