My Baby Jac is Turning 13

I am definitely not the first Mom and I won't be the last to say that I can't believe my baby boy is going to be a teenager.  It is so hard to comprehend that my overbaked-half-grown-infant-child is turning 13 years old.  I've never referred to him as my little baby because my pre-maternal visions of motherhood did not include my oldest son as an infant.  He was overbaked by ten days and while I had envisioned cradling this tiny little peewee baby, as Lindy and I are relatively averaged-sized people, I did not forsee myself cradling a baby with legs that extended past my waist.  There was baby...and then there were his legs.  He was 23 inches long and 8 lb 12 oz at birth.  He didn't have an ounce of fat on him and still doesn't to this day.  He's been this long, lanky kid since birth.  My cousin, Lana, won't recall this but I remember us comparing our babies' measurements and her son had the exact measurements at one year as Jac had at six months.

If you believe the much-bandied-about adage that you can double a child's height at the age of two and predict how tall he will be as an adult, then you might see Jac peek at 6 feet 4 inches someday.  (Honestly, I hope this doesn't hold true because it would make Ethan 6 feet 0 inches and Gavin 5 feet 8 inches as adults.  Not so great for the Gav).  I thought Jac would pass me up last summer but he didn't.  In April he was 5 feet 3 1/2 inches--just one inch to go--but his inseam and feet are the same size as mine.  Crazy.  He's in that terribly frustrating clothes-buying stage of not yet a man but not really a boy.  You would think I would rise to the challenge since I love shopping so much, but I'm tempted to let the boy wear his jeans until they're "manpris" (the male version of capris) just so that the next time I buy clothes for him we can just stick to the men's department.  Right now he can wear a boy's size 18 in shorts and some men's jeans in 29-30.  Do you know how hard it is to find jeans in 29-30?  I guess most men are carrying around a bigger gut than Jac.

I've really enjoyed being part of Jac's life while he has grown into this amazing young man.  He was a sweet little boy and has just grown into this polite young man that is sensitive and intuitive and easy-going.  This year has been quite an experience for Jac and me since we've both had braces for the last several months.  I've teased him about how we need a photo shoot with his Dad to capture this time as mother-turning-40 and son-turning-13 brace-faces.  To say that his father and I are proud of him seems so insubstantial compared to the way we really feel about Jac.  We expect amazing, beyond our imagination things for Jac and we speak that out over him and tell him all the time how we know he is going to be everything God calls him to be.  For the record, he's still set on being an astro-pastor.  If you don't know what an astro-pastor is you''l have to go back and read the post I wrote about Jac last year when he turned twelve.  I had already started this post when I went back to read that one to make sure I wasn't too repetitive and I noticed that I named it "My Baby Jac is Turning 12."  I guess in my heart he will always be my Baby Jac.  Lindy and I knew he would be John Addison but decided to wait and actually look at his face to decide whether to call him John or Jac.  We immediately knew he was Jac and my co-workers took to referring to him as "Baby Jac" and it stuck.

Eating in Little Italy in Manhattan

Jac at Hershey Park on his "best chocolate day ever"

Jac spent the last two weeks with his grandparents in Springfield and about halfway through he was very homesick.  I think more than anything he missed his brothers.  We were skyping with him and Jac was just laughing and grinning at his brothers' shenanigans in front of the computer.  Up until now, the relationship between Jac and his almost 10-year-old brother Ethan has been kind of hot and cold--the standard "Jac won't play with me," "Ethan won't quit bugging me" arguments that you probably have in your house on occasion if you have two or more children.  This past Thursday night Ethan was desperate to Skype with Jac but didn't really say why.  After they finally connected later that night I asked Ethan what he had wanted to tell Jac.  Ethan had earned his "Cut and Chop" card in Royal Rangers this week at church, which from my understanding is a big deal and means that he has passed all the requirements to be trusted with a knife.  (Don't quote me, but it's something scary to Moms and exciting to boys like that).  Also, Commander Matt gave Ethan a cool new knife for earning the card that he wanted to show to Jac.  When Ethan and I were discussing their interaction he said Jac had told him he was proud of him.  Oh, did that ever melt this mother's heart.  I have such high hopes for my boys' relationships as adults and this is a good step in the right direction.

My two 2 little sweetie pies pre-Gavin

Turning 13 is going to be a big deal in this house with our three boys and Lindy plans to take each boy on a trip--just the two of them--to "seal the deal."  There might be more information on this later--and perhaps I can convince the husband of Not Your Average Pastor's Wife to be a guest blogger on a later post describing what is so significant about turning 13.  Their trip is already booked and it's a surprise to Jac where they are going.  I know they are both going to have a blast.

Jac, I love you, I'm proud of you, and I'll never quit hugging and kissing you and telling you always how much you mean to me and how much you have changed my life.  You are one of a kind and I can't wait to be known as "Jac Carnett's Mom" in whatever direction God plans for your life.  Stay true to Him and you can never truly fail.  Psalm 18:30 says, "As for God, His way is perfect."  What more do we need?  Love you, babe.

Baby Jac on June 9