Happy Birthday, Houstonion!

Dear Houston,

You are now a teenager. I'm not sure how that happened. For years i've been threatening to tie a heavy stack of books onto your head to keep you from growing, and yet somehow you are still getting taller and older and turning into a person rather than a kid. I would like to press the pause button now. Any moment, i fear, you are going to discover that you have a whole world out there, and you're going to spread your wings and be gone. Not gone completely, but not as completely here anymore either. And that's a good thing. You should grow up and leave us eventually. I'm just really not ready for that yet. Not even a little bit.

But truly, you are the coolest 13-year-old i know. You're still happy to be hugged and cuddled - even in public! - and you even admit willingly that Dad and i are smart. You want to spend time with me - playing games or just going to the store or reading next to each other. I am going to hang on to those bits of your childhood for as long as i can.

Granted, you've only been a teenager for a day, but i have hopes that you'll get through these teen years without TOO much drama. You seem to know who you are, and - even more unusually - you really like who you are. (You should like who you are! I really like who you are too. Who you are is awesome.)

You embrace the things that you are geeky about: Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, chickens.... You love the things that you love, and you don't care who knows it. In fact, if they are not already fans, you're likely to turn them into fans, because you know that those things are just that awesome.

You devour books of all types. In fact, this year for your birthday, you got one book about the history of the chicken, one about Greek mythology, and one called "What if" that's all random scientific questions and their answers. And you're so excited about all of them that you can't choose which one to read first. I don't know many other people who would be excited to learn about all of those things. You have a thirst for knowledge and a desire to share that knowledge with others, and i love that about you.

This year, you've expanded your interests to music. You took a song, wrote all new lyrics for it, sang most of the parts yourself, recorded it, did all of the editing for it, AND made a music video for it. And it was AWESOME. I proudly showed everyone i was nearby, and they all thought it was amazing as well. You are talented, and you're willing to try new things - AND you're persistent enough to see things through rather than getting distracted and giving up. That's such a great combination!

You are so loving and kind. The obvious example is that you grab hold and give giant hugs when you've missed someone (which is often after a short time, like a day at school), but it's also the way that you curl up on the couch next to me to watch a movie, or include Katrina or Zane even if you'd rather not. You're genuinely interested in other people, and you want them to be around you. You make people feel special. You're friends with people who aren't necessarily the "coolest" kids, but they're kids who you've taken the time to get to know when others didn't, and they're such great friends. I'm so proud of the way you treat others.

You are such a joy. I'm so lucky to have you as a son! I love you.