From Babyhood to Boyhood

I've got an honest-to-peanuts little boy on my hands. Despite the fact that he still refers to himself as Baby, or Baby Duck, Liam is clearly all boy. He's asleep beside me, and I'm admiring the muddy knees, the dirt under the fingernails, and the...what the heck is that? Oh, it's his eye. Swollen shut.

Liam was bitten by one of those annoying horseflies - you know, the kind that if you dive underwater to escape, will wait for you to resurface. That was Sunday night. Last night his eye started swelling and swelling. Benadryl was administered. This morning, he couldn't open his eye, it was so red and angry. And itchy. I'm not one to freak out about medical issues, but his eye looked so bad that I called his pediatrician this morning. It seems to be just a bug bite, no infection, no allergic reaction, so she suggested keeping up the Benadryl for a few more days. One the way home we stopped at the park, where Liam accumulated all the dirt I'm seeing on him.

Yup, it's yet another transition in his life. He's still got a lot of baby cuddliness left in him, but he's also a whole lot little boy these days. He's got the dirt and injuries to prove it. Why oh why do children have to grow up so fast?