Fifteen

Today's Thankful Thursday is brought to you by Micah...who turns 15 today. :) So thankful for this kid. We let him open gifts early (and he was genuinely delighted with the random assortment of things so specific to him, lol--dip bars that he'd requested, climber's hold mug for his nightly tea (that helps with the arthritis), signature Alex Honnold spatula (it's a climber thing), etc...) and will celebrate again this weekend, so not much going on today. 

First, then, the traditional height comparison photos...

Yup, he's definitely looking more like a young man and less like my little boy. Sigh. It happens. :) And here is a sampling of other pictures we took after the height pictures...

Yes, he approved all of these pictures, both to be taken and to be shared, lol. 

This one, though, is my favorite of the day...

We'll call that one his official birthday photo. :)

This past year has been a full one for him...

• He continued to manage his juvenile idiopathic arthritis (mostly under control now but still dealing with occasional flare ups).
• He loved the transition from homeschooling to public high school and the making of new friends (and is pretty peeved at the current state of things and how it's impacting his social life).
• He's happy to have also made new friends on the climbing team he tried out for and joined (and is glad that, at least for the moment, he's still able to do some of that).
• He proudly continued with karate and demo team and recently earned his second degree black belt. (Sadly, though, the present situation is making things difficult.)
• And, he's gotten passionate about his current fitness and nutrition goals (apparently his lower back and front delts, among other things, need more work, lol).

He's started thinking more about his future. Things remain very fluid but current thinking includes living in a sprinter van and possibly pursing education in either business or something like physical therapy or personal training. He's only a sophomore, so we've got time. :) 

So thankful for this kid...for how he entertains us with his wackiness and enthusiasm...for how he teaches and challenges us about life and parenting and random other topics...for how he pushes himself constantly...for how he inspires us to be better citizens of the world and better people in general.

Happy birthday, my Micah!