Thirteen!

Yesterday was Reed's thirteenth birthday.

Thirteen! A teenager!

The saying goes 'The days go slow but the years go fast." It really is so true. I mean really, wasn't I just in middle school, turning 13? And now our kid is 13. Taller than me, and closing in on Tod too.

Reed is a homebody and, given the choice, would rather just hang around home instead of going out doing things. All the better if he can spend his time playing video games (says he). There are more frequent signs of maturity - and believe me, we take every small victory as a true victory - from only having to ask him once (hey maybe someday we won't have to ask at all! wouldn't that be grand!) to do something, to less grudgingly doing chores like walking the dog, taking out the trash/recycling, or doing dishes. School work...well, Reed continues to do really well (7 A's and a B+) without putting in a ton of effort. Things seem to come pretty easily to him, but we hope that when things do get tough, he'll be able to develop study/work habits that will allow him to continue to succeed. Reed didn't want to do flag football this fall, so instead his one activity is the Model UN club at school. There've only been a few meetings so far, so we're not totally sure what that's all about. Reed's best pal is still Robbie Webster, I think that's going on five years now. They don't have any classes together (4th grade was their only year together) but they sit together on the bus every day and get together from time to time. Reed continues to be a picky-ish eater, really doesn't like things that are mixed together like red beans and rice with sausage (he only eats the sausage). But he'll always eat a salad, which I know a lot of kids won't, so that's good. If he had it his way, our family dinners would be burgers, pizza, tortellini soup and salad, tacos, cereal, cereal and more cereal. He also doesn't like anything "spicy" – and let me tell you that is a broad definition for him.

For his birthday, Reed said he wanted to build his own computer. So we bought some parts, Tod had some parts already on hand, and together they built the new computer.

Already enjoying it!

If we can just get Reed to be a bit more tolerant of his loving little sister, we'd be all good. That's probably our biggest issue....bickering kids. Many days are a struggle when the kids end up having their "outside time" at the same time – evidently our driveway isn't big enough for the both of them (and the whole great big rest of the world is uninteresting). Sigh.

But it's pretty cool to have a "grown up" kid who we enjoy being with, and who we find funny and engaging. It's such fun to be his parents. Love you, Reed-o.

Trouble in the corn maze

Last year we went to a corn maze and Reed separated from the rest of us and blasted off in the other direction, trying to beat us out. We beat him, but he still contests it.

Happy group at the start of our expedition.

This year we tried a new corn maze. Turns out it was a lot more challenging than the one last year. We started the same way...team of 3 versus team of 1. Off he went. Tod and I followed Amy, and she observed the strategy of always turning right (mostly...she took a few shortcuts). After lots of dead ends and misdirections, the 3 of us made our way out in probably 45 minutes of walking. Then we waited. And waited. And waited. After about 45 minutes, Tod and Amy went back in to what was kind of a central point of the maze to see if they could see Reed. They didn't see Reed, but they did see lots of families desperate to find their way out ("Can you tell us how to get out?!?" and "We've been walking forever – do you know the way out?"). Then Amy came back out and Tod went back in to walk through the maze and try to find Reed. Somehow he managed to find him within 10 or 15 minutes, much to Reed's relief:

Actual relief not pictured.

I felt SO horrible that he was lost in there so long!! He must've walked 5 miles, and covered and re-covered most every inch of the maze. He wouldn't admit it, but I think he was getting pretty worried. Thank goodness we found him without too much trouble once we actually started looking.

Next time...Reed gets a cell phone in the corn maze.