On His Fourteenth Birthday

Our Adam turned 14, yesterday. Like I imagine all parents must, from time to time, I wonder how it is that my baby has grown taller than me? I know for a fact that he is kinder, more patient, sweeter and nurturing than, well, a goodly portion of the people on the planet, so that doesn't surprise me. But taller? Well, that doesn't compute, somehow.

We began his day with our traditional birthday breakfast, made by Alex, at which point, Max the cat was convinced he needed a little something from our plates, followed by Adam opening his cards, then his gifts.













Since Adam is an avid gamer and has been delving into Machinima, we thought he needed to upgrade his hardware. He was a little bit psyched. As in a lot psyched. Like, a lot. Psyched.





Which had to be set up immediately, of course. Even before cake.





Last week, Olivia had made a white cake with a buttercream frosting flavored with our own maple syrup for Blunt, which was apparently a hit, and Adam decided he wanted the same cake for his birthday.







In the afternoon, we went out, and stopped at Coast City Comics, where Adam scored a 2001 Nintendo Game Cube. We then had an early dinner, and went, where else? To see Iron Man 3. (We liked it, surprisingly so.) Of course we stayed for the end credits (as one should stay for the end credits to all Marvel movies because there's always an extra bit).



I asked Adam a few days before his birthday if he was looking forward to being 14, knowing that sometimes, my children have resented these older years laying claim to their childhoods. He shrugged at first, and gave the question some thought. Later, he said that he liked "turning 14 better, because I feel more aware of things. I feel like I know more and understand stuff better." Oh, my thoughtful, imaginative boy. Never have we doubted that. Happy Birthday, Adam.