It's a Boy!...

I am now the proud mother of a boy.

Surprise!!

You didn't see that one coming did you? Me either but here he is. A 5'8", 150? or so pounds, eighteen year old boy.

I named him Bob-bay and he arrived a little over a year ago courtesy of, no, not the stork, thank God, can you imagine giving birth to an eighteen year old?, but of my eldest daughter, Blake. Bob-bay is her boyfriend and now just another member of the crazy Reidy gang.

Bob-bay, who I will now refer to as Bobby in order to preserve your sanity and his reputation, is the boy that I never got to have and never realized that I missed. I tend to baby him (when I am not giving him a hard time) and dote on him. The hubby even remarked the other day how whenever he asked for something like a certain food or a chore he wants me to do that I just blow it off but when Bobby asks, I jump right on it. I can't help it....Bobby is the kind of kid who you want to do things for.

When he first started dating Blake he was very shy around me. And as far as Tessie went, forget it. It was like she didn't exist. He just did not know how to interact with her so he simply avoided her. And not in a mean way (if I thought he was being mean about it he would not have lasted around here for five minutes), but you could just tell he didn't know how to approach Tess. So I let it go for a while but after about eight months or so of him being around, he was not so quiet and shy and would give me as much of a hard time as I gave him so I knew he was ready...I told him he had to start saying "hi" to Tessie and talking to her when he came in to the house.

At first it was hard for him but the funniest part is that Tessie thinks he is great. She smiles when she hears him and giggles when he and Blake get wrestling and tickling each other and thus get rather loud. He claims that she loves him because he is the only person who doesn't get in her face and actually gives her some space. He could be on to something there.

Of course having another child means more things that I have to do. For example, the Knowledge Quest. I am not a huge fan of going to the school for these events and I know it is awful to admit that but there it is. Anyway, I always go to Blake and Ellie's but this year I had to sit through many others in order to get to Bobby's presentation. But I wanted to support him and let him know he did a good job. And then there are sporting events. I used to just go and stay for my girls games but now have to stay and cheer on the boys as well. And if I leave early, he notices and pulls a guilt trip on me later. Oh yeah, that's my boy.

And this is tournament week. I went from staying in the hospital with Tessie to going to the boys tournament without even going home first and have packed her up two more times (which is a HUGE undertaking) to make sure I am there. Not to mention DVRing the game and then rewatching it on TV when I get home. All for Bobby.

It has been a harder adjustment for the hubby I think. After all, he is no longer the "man" in his little girl's life. But he also likes Bobby a lot so that does make it easier.

As for me, it has been fun to get to know Bobby and watch Blake and him together. Maybe because it reminds me of the hubby and myself at that age or maybe because they are such a cute couple...

Or maybe I just like having a boy around to be a mom to.

Who would have guessed it?....