Daughter #1 just started her period yesterday. On one hand, we've been expecting it (rumor has it that a couple of her classmates preceded her by months in this), but it really doesn't seem that long ago that I had her cradled on one arm, walking her around through long nights of colic.
The phrase "they grow up so fast" has never hit quite so hard.
Now, I've been incredibly lucky to have been around day-in-day-out for her first 12 years of life (the past six months are the only time they've known Daddy to not be around), so I've had a lot more "parental experience" than most fathers have a chance to, but it still seems like I could have done a lot more.
This drives home the "failures" too ... like this weekend when her little sister really wanted to play some board games with me, but because of various stuff, I never got around to playing with her ... it makes me feel like I've left a scar that she's going to carry all her life with that disappointment.
Of course, being used to being around them as much as I have been over the past 13 years, the current situation with my only seeing them for about an hour in the evening and a half an hour in the morning is really hard on all of us, but what can I do?
Anyway, this was one of those life landmarks that I figured I should make note of. My baby's turning into a woman ... just amazing.