What a difference a year makes...

As promised, I took birthday photos of Noah last weekend (after I did haircuts). I find it hilarious what a difference a year makes. Remember last year? He was such a happy eleven year old:

Now, at twelve, it's not that he's not happy any more. Truly. But, look (click to make 'em bigger):

Yeah. He's pretty much done with me taking his picture, lol. (I had him laughing there toward the end but didn't manage to catch him facing anywhere toward the camera...can't say the boy doesn't learn, lol.)

And, as is tradition, here are twelve things about my Noah...

1. His wardrobe has been Steve Jobs inspired for about the past year...initially, just dark rinse blue jeans and black tops and sneakers, though now he's branched out to tops that simply lack color, lol. 
2. He's pretty obsessed with all things Apple and anticipates their keynote addresses like they're new movie releases.
3. He has a great tendency to put things off till the last minute (and then complain about not having enough time). We're working on this. If it kills me. ;)
4. The boy can eat. We joke that his birthday this year, though not a huge celebration, was basically an eat-a-thon. He requested a steak dinner on Friday (and proceeded to eat all of what would have been leftovers as well...Nathan made enough for three of us plus leftovers for the next day...we had none left). Then he had a double cheeseburger Saturday at lunch...and a couple slices of pizza and a cup of gelato for a snack...and a good portion of a lasagna for his "official" birthday dinner. Yeah. If this is any indication, I'm not really sure we can financially handle Noah with a teenage boy appetite, lol. 
5. Beyond all things Apple, Noah enjoys watching Mythbusters, Good Eats and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Though he enjoys history, he has a strong bias toward all things new and technology-related.
6. He's really enjoying learning to play the guitar.
7. He also likes swim team still and is definitely an even stronger swimmer this year.
8. He's struggling right now to make a decision about money...whether to spend on new archery equipment now or just continue saving for a Mac. Stay tuned... ;)
9. His bedroom remains impeccably clean and continues to lack any color.
10. He's incredibly averse to attention, preferring to observe. So. If he seems like he's ignoring you or refusing to engage in conversation, it's probably not personal. ;) 
11. He highly dislikes long division and fractions. He can do both, fortunately; he just dislikes them. ;)
12. He'll likely never live down what a big baby he was, lol. (He was my biggest for sure at 9 lb, 4 oz!)

Yup, that's my Noah. ;)