Can I just keep him the way he is?

Miles is on the verge of several things -- he's rolling over a lot and badly wanting to crawl, he's been trying to get teeth, he's saying some rudimentary forms of simple words. It feels so good to hear him yell "DA!" at me when he wants something.

But at some point, you start wishing their lives away. I have to stop myself and just enjoy right now.

For example, Miles woke up at 5:15 a.m. today. As frustrating as it is to be awake at that hour, once I'd changed his dirty diaper, we went out to the couch where we both fell asleep, with him laying on my chest. It felt great, and it won't be like that forever.

Recently, though, I've gotten some other examples of why I don't want to see him grow up too fast. As kids begin to be able to talk and do more, they also have the chance to be way bigger pains.

Watch the following videos. I don't look forward to these stages.

The hope I hold out for is that you can blame the parents. If I don't want my son saying "Whatever!" or something like that, then I won't teach him to say that.

And in the case of the second video, Miles better never act like that about a gift. If he does, Christmas will be over for a day or two. We'll just wait until he can act like a decent, appreciative little boy.

At the same time, though, I know you can't totally control your kids. And that's what scares me.