I'm officially the mother of a teenager ..

and I don't like it! Alex is now thirteen (and one day, as he reminded me this morning) and I feel like I blinked and he grew up overnight.

Where did my baby go?

What happened to my chubby little toddler?

And the talkative little pre-schooler?

As well as the sometimes unco-operative, but mostly lovable primary school child?

I miss them all but I'm glad he's growing into a fine young man.

(Except for that teensy-tiny complication of the three-day-suspension but aren't we all supposed to learn from our mistakes? Here's hoping!)

I took yesterday off work, ostensibly to deal with the repercussions of the suspension but really just to be home with him on his first teen birthday, and we had a great day. Peter took a couple of days off work as well and drove down from work on Sunday night, arriving after Alex was asleep, just so he could be home with him too.

The two younger boys gave Alex their presents before school (a DS game and a Wii game) and then Peter and I took him shopping for his present. We wanted to get him a stereo for his room and a "proper" watch but wanted him to have some input into the choice. We managed to get both with a minimum of angst and then treated him to lunch. Of course, still being a kid, he wanted Macca's so we went to the shopping centre food court where he and Peter had Macca's and I had a ham and cheese crepe .. yum!

As soon as we got home, he set up his new stereo and settled into his room to play his new DS games. I tried to go and sit with him to watch him play and was told that I could watch another time .. and not in his room because that's where he goes "to get away from it all". (I'd prefer to get away from it all in Fiji or even Margaret River, but I suppose it's a good thing that he's easy to please .. for now!)

We went to Sizzler for dinner with Pete's Mum and Dad and my Mum. Andrew and Brad thought that Sizzler was only in Queensland so they were over the moon that there's one here. The food was ok but the kids' joy at being able to help themselves to whatever they wanted made up for it. After dinner, we thoroughly embarrassed Alex by singing Happy Birthday at the top of our lungs but he got his revenge (on me anyway) by refusing to eat any of the birthday cake I had made at his request. Devil's Food Cake with chocolate icing .. how could he want Sizzler's melted soft serve chocolate ice cream mush over that? I always knew he was switched in the hospital .. he can't possibly be my child!!

As much as I joke about you Alex, I love you heaps and I'm glad you're my baby .. sorry, not my baby .. my teenager!