We have a teenager in the house! In case you don’t follow me on instagram, where I do most of our visual logging of our daily life these days, here’s what I wrote to Tommy:
Tommy! You are fun to hang out with. I like your sense of humor–a combination of Dad’s and mine, with a special emphasis on ridiculing SoCal pretensions. You are so capable of being gentle with your little sisters, especially Annie. I am touched by how much have you have embraced being a special needs brother. You are a faithful friend. I love discussing our favorite fantasy novels and characters (Eugenides forever!), I’m glad you also get geeked out about diagramming crazy sentences, and I will never get tired of reading your research papers on obscure facets of World War II. I love that you’re spending your birthday party board gaming with your homeschool buddies. You are truly our son! Most importantly, you are God’s son, and I love the man He is shaping you into.
The birthday books were heavy on the Megan Whalen Turner this year, due to the fact that her 6th book is coming out in a few months, and Tommy and I both *need* to reread the series a couple more times before the finale. One of the most fun developments of this past year was discovering The Thief, falling in love with Turner’s fantasy world, knowing that Tommy would love it, too, and devouring the series together with him in the space of a week or so. I love sharing quality obsessions with my son!
For his birthday, Tommy asked for a gaming party with the Skeens boys. Aidan, Liam, and Ian Michael came over for four hours and feasted on “healthier snacks” (pretzels and chocolate hummus, which we all agreed was interesting, trail mix, dried fruit chips, carrots, and popcorn) while playing Codenames, Blokus, Star Wars X Wing, and a few other games. Much fun was had by all!
