Teenager goes away and baby turns 6

Big E left us for a few weeks.  He turned 13 last February which made him old enough to de-tassel corn in Nebraska.  For a 13 year old with empty pockets, the potential cash was far more appealing than the warnings of early mornings, hot sun, and muddy fields.
He had his last basketball tournament July 13th and started work on the 15th.  I loaded him up with food and snacks and clothes and shoes to destroy and hauled him on up to Beaver Crossing.  We are fortunate to have Chad's awesome sister and family there, who have been detasseling for years and would put E up and feed him and get him to work.  
And then I left.  I left him, knowing it would be at least two weeks before we would see him again.  It made my heart hurt.  I like him and his absence left a hole in our family that you just can't shake. We all missed him.  The time moved quickly, but each day, I had moments when I just hurt a little, missing him.  This past weekend I was in Kansas City and my rockstar sister was able to get him to me so I wouldn't have to drive up to Nebraska to get him.  That first hug felt so good and then he started talking and talked and talked about the days.  He made such good memories with cousins and new friends.  He wants to go back next year.  I am so thankful he doesn't balk at hard work, that he is responsible enough to leave at 13, and that he still misses us when he's gone.  

Saturday was Baby's 6th birthday.  I'm not sure if I'll ever stop calling him my baby.  He hates it so I can only refer to him as such when he's out of earshot.  Ugh.  Anyone who knows us or reads this or has met Caleb knows he's walking to the beat of his own drum.  He is a non-conformist.  A vocal dissenter.  A passionate advocate of what he wants.  And many other things.  I use to think these were not exactly negatives, but certainly not positives.  He is changing my mind.  These are positives.  Through and through. What I often view as defiant stubbornness, is a quality that drives him to understand the whys of his world.  He will not just toe the line for the sake of toeing the line.  He wants to know why. Always why.  I'm finding out that so much of how his brain is wired affects how he behaves.  I cannot imagine the speed at which he is thinking thoughts.  Constantly gaining more input and therefore needing more output.  His thoughts are on the table for the world to hear and see.  He is a game-changer.  I am anxious to see what he will do with these qualities.
He still says the funniest things and has the greatest little lisp.  "Pretta much..." or "Ax-ually" preface nearly every sentence.  It makes me smile.  We're taking him to Legoland this weekend for his birthday present.  When I asked him if he would rather have Chad or I take  him through(because oh.my.goodness. I do not want to pay for both us to go through because oh.my.goodness. it's expensive and not exactly enjoyable for adults), he said, "Pretta much, it's like the same cause sometimes you're mean and sometimes you're nice and Dad is sometimes mean and sometimes nice so pretta much it's the same so I don't care."  Good to know Chad and I are equal in the parenting department.
You know, six isn't really that little anymore, but he still snuggles with me sometimes or wants to be close and hug me and I just kinda want to pause and soak it all in.  And cry a little.  I don't want to go back to his tiny years cause I'm so excited for the coming years, but there is something so precious about that time.  It gets me all choked up.