Twelve

My baby turned twelve today.

My sleepy 7 lb. 3 oz. newborn of 12 years and 12 hours ago has grown into a 5 foot 7 inch (and growing) pre-teen. At this moment, he's sitting on the other side of the room playing a new computer game he got for his birthday. The kid knows about a hundred times as much about computers as I do. His hands and feet indicate that he's going to be a six-footer, at least. He plays trombone in the school band and has a fantastic anatomical anomaly with his hands that allows him to do a trick that has Cami's high school friends jealous. He hugged every member of the family this morning when we surrounded him for gift-opening at 6:20 AM. He keeps us all laughing with his wittiness and can crack his knuckles and put away pizza like no one I've ever seen. He reads books, draws comics, goes cheerfully to school, helps me bake, and has irrepressible joy for anything he delights in. He cheered on the Cougar football team in the middle of the crowd at Qwest Field in September, performed with the school band onstage in December, maneuvers through the crowd of 250+ 6th graders at school every day, and went on all manner of rides at Disney World in May. He's learning to play electric and bass guitars, talks to people at church and orders his own food at restaurants. He wore a Santa hat to school today and his Cougars shirt on "Rivalry Day" despite being in the huge minority to those in Husky garb. He signed up for chess club, all on his own, and goes every Monday after school. His best non-family friend is Logan, and they hang out together at school every day. He's trying to decide whether to take jazz band or woodshop next year in 7th grade. Yeah, he's talking about next year...at school...no hesitation, no complaints.

Nate, you've taught me so much about living. I love, love, love you.

You've come a long way, baby.