11 going on 16...

I had a friend once tell me that boys and girls open up to their parents in different ways and that boys tend to open up if they are side by side (as opposed to facing you) which is most easily done in the car. I have tried this out multiple times with my 11 year old Biel.
I have found that often he just starts talking about things that I would not have asked him about on his own only if he is sitting next to me in the car. So the theme this week is...girls! Towards the end of the year last year was the first time he actually noticed girls even exist. He had a very tiny "crush" on a girl in his class. When I asked him why he sort of fancied her he responded "because she knows when its time to be silly and when its time to be serious and she always stays on task!". This comment somehow comforted me and made me chuckle.
Today however...he confessed that he sort of liked a different girl (she has had her eye on him since 1st grade and makes no quams about letting him know...forward girls sort of make me nervous). I asked him why he fancied her and he said "because she's really cute, she is smart, she is kind to others, she's funny and she's liked me since 1st grade so that kind of makes a difference cause at least I know that she knows that I exist." Then what he said next sort of caught me by surprize..."Mom I know your just dying to get every detail out of me and I know that in your head right now your thinking 'Ahhhhh my boy is growing up' but it will be ok Mom". He's right...it does freak me out that we will be donning a new chapter of life and that hormones will kick in even more. I'm sure that I don't really know what I'm in for and that is a scares me to death.