My 12 1/2 year old boy has gone sappy on me

[frogpond1]

He is walking around hugging his stuffed animals and hugging his sister one moment and then causing trouble with his siblings the next. The funny thing is he is 5' 5 1/2" now and size 10 mens feet and he is getting all mushy. He wants to snuggle with mom and he's rolling around wrestling his little brothers- things he wouldn't dare have done 6 months ago. Then, with his new found strength, someone always gets hurt. I'm positive when I see him next he'll be holding the fuzzy duckie he bought at the store yesterday with his Christmas money. It is totally hysterical. "Duckie Wuckie..."he says in a silly little voice to me with a grin on his face.I think the hormones have arrived. I am convinced he has lost it. On the other hand, he is writing reams for school without complaint (my once pencil phobic first born) and taking science and Latin tests with relative ease. He does so many mature an independent things and then this???? Duckie Wuckie??? AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

[Jean in Newcastle]

LOL! Yep, it sounds like the hormones have arrived! But in such a fun way (well, except for the accidentally hurting the brothers part). Maybe for the testosterone bursts you need to find some "feats of derring do" that don't involve the little ones - something where he can try out his newfound strength and prove his manliness without having to try to tone it down! (We're not quite there yet - ds is 10 so I don't have any concrete suggestions for you.)

[NYSue]

I have gone through this with two boys so far - one more to go. I have watched them both regress in many ways, and amaze me with their maturity in others. There was a time when I had a 14 yo ds and a 4 yo ds. There wasn't much difference between the two!! Enjoy and keep your sense of humor.

[WTMindy]

That is funny. It'll be interesting to see what he does next, eh?

[Needleroozer]

Good words of advice so far- one more thing- suck up his love and affection now, because there will hit a point developmentally that he won't want to kiss or hug you for awhile, and that is a much harder phase. Can you tell we are currently in it?!
Has he hit the stage where he is telling you he loves you 25 times a day? That was fun.
Hang in there. By the time your littlest boy is doing this you will have it down pat.
:D

[Just Me]

HUH! I did not know that I had this to look forward to.

Lord, give me strength! :rolleyes:

[Sharon H in IL]

Thanks for the heads-up. My 11yo son is full of surprises, so "Duckie-Wuckie" would fit right in these days.

Good story -- I hope you're writing all this down!

[Mama Bear]

Only he's carrying around stuffed dragons and snakes. And the baby talk is for his little brother. I was going to suggest that we get them together and then thought better of it. :p They might be dangerous in packs, she whispered.

[StaceyinLA]

When will yours be 13?

[frogpond1]

He's quite tall and lanky and fits right in with his other 7th grade friends.