Keening because my baby is thirteen(ing) (not really)

Dear M,

Well, you've gone and done it. 

You are absolutely, positively, without a doubt, not in any way, shape, or form my baby anymore. 

You are almost as tall as me and taller than both of your grandmas.

You are starting to have little teenagery pimple breakouts.

You've got the biting humor of a sarcastic teenager. 

Even though you are absolutely, positively, without a doubt, not in any way, shape, or form my baby anymore, I'm not sad because it is so wonderful to see you becoming who you are, especially now that you aren't in your "Same thing as G" phase. 

Of course, you're sort of "meh" about a lot of things which makes it well-nigh impossible for me to know what you are actually interested in. 

It's not sports. And it's not tv. I know this much to be true.

So what do I know about you:

You sometimes like to go outside and play in the creek with your neighborhood friend, B. And you have a table of other 7th grade dudes you like to joke with at lunch. 

You make up the funniest songs or sing the funniest, random snippets of words that you put to a tune all the time. 

You have a quick wit about you and say things off the cuff that would take your dad two weeks to come up with and three days for me to come up with. Your brain works fast.

You are both a cat-whisperer and a dog-whisperer. It is a gentle way you have about you that animals recognize. 

Your mouth tries to keep up with your brainand isn't always successful. You talk fast, and we almost always have to ask you to repeat yourself. We blame it on you being the third child and having to quickly.sneak.in.anything.you.might.want.to.insert.in.the.conversation. 

Out of all of us, you seem to be the most high on chill. Things don't seem to bother you the way they do the rest of us. 

You really enjoy bubble wrap. 

You never wear shirts. Or socks. We have several casual family photos at birthdays, and you are always without a shirt. 

Most of all, I know that you are a great kid. A nice, quiet, hard-working, mostly easy-going 13-year-old who I am so, so glad is part of our family.

Love you,

Momma