It's been a fast and furious summer, but they've been anticipating today for months: THEY'RE FOURTEEN! They're firmly in the teen years now, and so far we're all surviving.
Little Man in many ways is a typical 14-year-old boy, enamored with bodily functions, inappropriate noises and "that's what she said" jokes. He absolutely wears his feelings on his sleeve; we always know what he's thinking. He's sensitive and honest, sometimes brutally!
His favorite foods are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (he eats 3-4 a day), mac n cheese, lasagna, and -- recently -- Jarritos sodas. He finally admits to sometimes liking some vegetables, like lettuce ("anything's good with ranch dressing!") and sauteed mushrooms.
Little Man's main activities are tennis and cross country. The cross country season is about to start, and he's looking forward to practices and meets. Oddly, he never wants to practice at home, and regularly turns down MJ's invitations to join him on early morning runs. But he likes playing tennis with me and MJ. It's always me against the two of them. It's not the handicap it sounds like; I usually win, but it won't be long before they're beating me consistently.
This past year, Little Man got pretty involved with Boy Scouts, and has really enjoyed it. He plans to continue and fully intends to make Eagle Scout someday. So far he has plenty of merit badges, but doesn't even have his first rank yet, which is the opposite of the norm! I tease him that he'll be the first kid to earn every single merit badge before he's even the rank of "Scout."
Sweet Pea is a fun mix of girly-girl and tomboy: she loves skin care and hair care, but she doesn't care for makeup or dresses. She will wear skirts sometimes, but mostly she lives in athletic leggings and tops. She's a sneakerhead and has multiple pairs at any given time. She loves white shoes, but has a hard time keeping them white!
Her favorite foods are mac n cheese, burgers, and fruit. But after a recent bout of stomachaches, she self-diagnosed as lactose-intolerant, and has decided to cut dairy from her diet. We'll see how long she can go without some of her favorites!
Her main activity is still cirque, and she's looking forward to a new season of rehearsals and performances. We recently learned that her professional company will be performing around the country starting this winter, so we're excited for that!
Little Man and Sweet Pea are about to start 8th grade, their final year of middle school. And it'll possibly be their final year of going to school together, since Sweet Pea is adamant about attending our zoned high school, while Little Man is considering attending the same fine arts magnet high school that CC attends. Sweet Pea pretends to hate school, but she does very well and has tons of friends, so I take her complaints with a grain of salt. Little Man is more vehement about how much he dislikes school, which is why he is considering a different high school -- he might want a fresh start, with kids he hasn't gone to school with since elementary school. This year both Sweet Pea and Little Man will start taking some high school classes, and we'll be interested to see how they do.
They're both growing and maturing and turning into such interesting little people. I can't wait to see where they will go this next year. It's bittersweet every time they move into a new phase, but also lovely to witness them develop. We love you, Sweet Pea and Little Man! Happiest of birthdays!
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