Children grow up so fast Posted On: Sunday, Nov. 15 2009 05:49 AM Around and around they went.

My two little babies, all grown up, were driving on their own.

While Elizabeth and Daniel circled the track at Austin's Park and Pizza, I daydreamed.

I couldn't believe my once tiny miracles were now handling those real engines themselves.

They didn't need me.

Of course the cars were smaller, fit for tiny drivers and slower than the race cars I had shared with them earlier in the evening. Nonetheless, my kids were big enough to make it to some kind of solo level of race car driving.

And I couldn't believe it.

Wasn't it just yesterday that I installed those plush "beep, beep" handles on the front of their stroller and carseats so they could "pretend" to drive?

It all goes by so fast.

Today I have to go buy supplies for scrapbooking. Yep, I'm going to be one of those moms.

I have no choice.

At 6 and 7, my kiddos are already racking up awards, certificates and, to my elation, newspaper clippings!

On Friday my heart leaped out of my chest, swelling with pride as I saw my children's names in the newspaper – they both made first grade Honor Roll!

Gone are the days of just U, S and O (Unsatisfactory, Satisfactory, Outstanding). My little Einsteins get real grades, numbers even.

My son went from two regular Bs and two high Cs to straight B+s.

His birthday is Sept. 1, the first day a child becomes eligible for kindergarten.

So he always is and will be the youngest in his class. I'm so proud of his hard work and progress.

Elizabeth, my novelist in training, went from straight regular As to straight A+s. It's quite something to see 97, 98, 95, 95 on a report card.

And just a few days ago, she brought home a certificate for being an outstanding writer.

Her little story was chosen to hang on the school wall, representing first grade. And she was "Caught Being Good," (a Student of the Six Weeks-type distinction).

I'm not just bragging.

In all honesty, I'm just trying to take it all in.

From strollers to race cars. From Os to As.

From diapers to designer jeans. It just changes so fast.

Elizabeth is already asking about certain underwear that only women (who are fully developed) need.

You catch my drift?

And Daniel already knows the makes and models of the cars he will be driving to high school, he says.

Meanwhile, I'm just hanging on to the precious moments.

I know I can't wish for my daughter's two top front teeth NOT to grow back in. But she's so darling like this.

They are both so cute and cuddly just as they are.

They still crawl into my bed in the middle of the night.

They still ask me if they can go to the bathroom even in their own house.

They still grab me, hold me and kiss me in public. And I'm loving every minute of it.

I better because soon I could be playing second fiddle to bras, Corvettes and first dates.

Father Time, slow down!

Olga Peña is the managing editor of the Killeen Daily Herald. She is a resident of Copperas Cove, where she lives with her two children, Daniel, and Elizabeth. E-mail her at opena@kdhnews.com.