Ethan at 13

Ethan is getting tall.

He is officially 5'3'' and he is praying for one more inch.  I am 5' 4'' on a good day.

He is 13. A teenager. An aficionado of the eyeroll.

He plays the trumpet and he's pretty darn good. But he has no desires to join a jazz band or perform at the Solo and Ensemble Festival. He doesn't gravitate toward the limelight.

He has a knack for building things...zoob creations, 18th century ships out of cardboard, sewing thread and wooden skewers, highly detailed lego sculptures, cardboard Roman armor.

He is a gifted artist. He specializes in dragons and guys that fly on dragons. He can draw just about anything and it's pretty fun to watch. While he sketches, I keep thinking, "Where did he learn to do that?" It was just in him.

He is such a great brother...that's not to say he doesn't tease and pick on his siblings....but when he isn't, he really knows how to talk to the little ones and I get a glimpse of what he will be like as a father.

His favorite color is blue.

He loves shepherd's pie and cantaloupe and BLT's.

He loves a lot of shepherd's pie, an entire cantaloupe, and 2 BLT's with extra bacon. He definitely has turned the corner with his appetite. Don't even get me started on the amount of milk this boy can drink.

He knows how to apologize and he knows how to forgive. I think those to things are pretty big steps in successfully functioning in society.

During the last term of the school year, I finally resigned from my job as his Personal Assistant/Gopher/Homework Nagger. It was killing our relationship. He was put on notice that it was up to him to sink or swim. If he got all A's and B's, he would get a phone. If he failed a class, he would have to deal with the consequences...ie. summer school, kicked off the track team, etc.  Well...he got a C in math, which disqualified him from getting a phone, but that kid got all A's in the rest of his classes and by dang! I was very proud of him! Truth be told, I was even proud of the C...because he earned that C on his own! I didn't have anything to do with it.

I do believe he is growing up.