I closed my eyes for just a moment - really I did...

And, just look what happened -

My little baby went from this:

To this:

I swear, it was practically overnight.

He celebrated like this one time:

And, then he celebrated like this:

He's had fun doing this:

And, gone through stages like this:

And, this:

And, he's even looked like this:

At one time, he was even much shorter, like this:

He's made me very proud, like this:

But, no matter what stage "this" is, my baby is all grown up now and I can't believe how fast the time has flown. First he was just a "little" guy (9 pounds, 1 ounce; 20 inches long) and, in the blink of an eye, he was grown. I closed my eyes for just a moment, and he grew, and grew, and grew.

Moments frozen in time...

     First words, first steps, first haircut
     Chubby little toddler, getting into everything
     Needing stitches for the very first time 
     Cooking eggs in the microwave when he was four years old
     Cooking popcorn on top of the solid core stove top - without a pan because I told him he couldn't get dishes out to cook by himself any longer. Solution: pour oil directly on the burner, add popcorn kernels, stand back and wait for the popcorn to fly. Age 4.
     Roller blading down the street
     Needing stitches again
     Breaking his left wrist
     Shattering his right wrist - and two surgeries
     Learning to drive - and us living through it. Right turn on red after stop does not mean left turn on red after stop is also OK.

Blink, blink, blink - and now he's a man.

Happy Birthday to my (little) big boy! Keith is 24 today.