Happy #14

Happy birthday, Baby Boy! You are 14 today, but it seems like yesterday we were celebrating your fourth birthday in Virginia with a Go, Diego, Go themed party.

There are so many reasons to celebrate you, but here’s fourteen of the very best reasons!

1. There is no lack of laughs when you are in the room. You can make the mundane hilarious! 

2. Your love for shoes - and your quirky way of smelling brand new shoes when they come out of the box. Don’t forget to save the shoe box, too. 

3. Your no-nonsense-say-what’s-on-your-mind-no -matter-what-attitude. You were three years old and told the wife of the Sec Def she had crazy hair, and I’m pretty sure you’d do that again today if given the opportunity (and some strong wind gusts).

4.Your affinity for wearing your green Hugh Hefner robe anytime the temp falls below 70 degrees. 

5. You still have no concept of time, the calendar, or the sequence of events.. It’s 6:15. We leave for soccer in ten minutes. In ten minutes, you still haven’t changed into practice gear. Some would call that frustrating, but I think it’s endearing (unless we are late). Or last year’s question: which month is Thanksgiving? Or how long do we get out of school for Labor Day? When is soccer practice?

6. I love your desire to have everything neat and organized. God forbid I open a folder for school and move one piece of paper. Don’t even think about throwing dirty clothes your bedroom floor. And all those shoes boxes are stacked neatly in the closet.

7. It goes without saying that I love little more in life than watching you play sports. Your fierce competitive spirit gets me every time!

8. Freckles. Oh, how they make me smile in the summertimes.

9. Your love for blueberries. Muffins, cake, pie, cereal. You will eat anything with a blueberry. 

10. The hair. Oh the hair! It can cause angst and the  slamming of doors on rainy days, but on a good day, when it falls just right, it’s good. Real good.

11. Junk food. You can get all kinds of mad if the pantry only contains cans of vegetables or soup. I like to buy chips, cookies, and processed junk just to see your happy dance.

12. Speaking of dance. You haven’t lost your moves. They just get better with time!

13. Video games. Not unlike most 14 year olds, you and the PS4 have a special relationship. I’m pretty sure you are one step away from a medical diagnosis of “Fortnite Addiction.” You’re always lookin’ for the next win - even at 0300!

14. Leaving the house without shoes. Refer to #5 (time) and #13 (video games) to draw conclusions for why a 14 year old leaves the house not fully clothed. It’s so much fun (even if I don’t see anything fun about it until about an hour later) turning around to go back to the house for a forgotten pair of cleats, slides, or street shoes. 

Happy birthday, Keagan! Love you BIG!