Owen turns THIRTEEN

Dear Owen,

I can't believe you are THIRTEEN years old. We officially have a teenager in the house! I remember like it was yesterday celebrating your first birthday in Bogota. You were such an adorable little boy. Somehow you've grown into a handsome young man before my very eyes.

You, my dear, are a man of many words. You can talk, and talk, and talk some more. You mostly love to educate anyone willing to listen about the Hunger Games, Roblox, The SCP Foundation (a fictional listing of over 6,000 supernatural creatures that you find fascinating) and many, MANY random facts you've absorbed like a sponge from Youtube.

Your gaming interests have wavered over the years - first with an obsession over Minecraft and now with Roblox. Minecraft is officially "too boring" for your level of expertise. Roblox is where it's at - with its vast collection of games covering many different topics. Your recent favorites include "Loomian Legacy", a knock off of Pokemon, and "The Pyre Games", a knock off of The Hunger Games.  Being an avid Roblox player, you've somehow managed to be approved as a "Verified Player". You are now "unofficially" employed and each month make $450 Robux (the gaming currency in Roblox, which equates to $4.50 USD.)

Another one of your favorite games is Fallout 4. The game takes place 200 years after a nuclear explosion decimates the country. After being cryogenically frozen in a vault for 200 years, your character wakes up to find his son missing. Your mission: locate your son. You'd play this game over and over, looking up tutorials online to learn how to advance to the next step. It took awhile, but you finally conquered it. Along the way, you loved talking (and talking!) about the story line and all the various scenarios. I just may be a Fallout 4 expert now. 

You love watching movies, or more precisely, critiquing movies. You enjoy ripping apart inconstancies and filming errors. Some of your favorite flicks are the Star Wars and Jurassic Park sagas. While you have quite the opinion on Star Wars, you tend to not find much to criticize in Jurassic Park. You are a HUGE fan and too much criticism of your all time favorite will have you up in arms. In fact, your most recent Jurassic Park comment was: "I like hearing what other people have to say about Jurassic Park. As long as it's not negative."

Speaking of arms, this year was your very first time (and hopefully last!) riding in an ambulance. You took a dive skiing at Buck Hill and managed to break your arm. They had to pull you in a sled down the hill to get you to the ambulance. When I got the call, you were doing pretty well after some heavy pain meds were administered in the chalet. Thankfully with the pain meds on board, once your arm was set you were good to go. After a week, you barely even noticed that you had broken your arm. In fact, I had to keep reminding you not to use that arm so that it could heal properly.

Your furry friends, William and Eli, know exactly where to go when they want attention. You are their man! You enjoy their snuggles and cuddles.  In fact, you are William's most favorite person. He lets you carry him and even pet his tummy. Something the rest of us are never allowed to do.  Even with your daily dose of kitties, you still ask, "Can we get a dog?" For some reason, you think having a dog will be the bees knees. Lucky for you, Uncle Jason just got a sweet little pup that you can visit as often as you'd like.

Your next most cherished item, after your kitties, is your bouncy ball. You have brought that ball with on every vacation since you got it. It's half pink, half orange, and completely smooth after years of being well cared for. It's a small miracle that you still have it. You've buried it on the beach and launched it as far as your arm could throw in the pool. It's been lost for months inside the house, yet, some how, you've always managed to locate it once again. You sure do love that ball!  

You often use big words that I have no clue what you're talking about. "Canon" is one of those words that you've had to explain to me more than once. According to Wikipedia, "In fiction, canon is the material accepted as officially part of the story in the fictional universe of that story. It is often contrasted with works of fan fiction." HUH??? As an example, you explained to me that the Jurassic Park comic books are not cannon to the movies as they do not follow the series time-line. You delve deep into your favorite series and are quite fascinated by discovering new canon elements. You'll often ask me if I think something is canon and I still have no clue! 

Lately you've become quite interested in anime. I call them "cartoons", but you are quick to disagree. For those that don't know, anime is basically Japanese animation. You're all time favorite is "Attack on Titan" followed by "Death Note". As their titles would have you believe, many anime series are aimed at older audiences and filled with lots of action and creepy plots, which you sure do love.

Recently, you've been telling me all about your newest reading interest - the Japanese Manga of "Attack on Titans".  So what is a Japanese Manga, Owen? This is again a term you've had to explain a few times to your dear old mom. Your explanation goes something like this..."Well, I don't want to call it a comic book. But it's like a comic book, only more serious and in black and white."

When your nose isn't glued to the Chromebook, you can be one silly boy - from covering yourself in bubbles to being the bottom of a pile of siblings to wading through a pond to retrieve your golf ball. You like to keep us guessing just what crazy antic will be next.

For your big 13th birthday, we had a combined party with your little sis. While you don't like sharing your party with Rose, with your birthdays only 2 days apart, it's much easier for planning purposes and out of town guests.

You started the morning with a bag full of Fallout goodies, including several Fallout t-shirts and a little bobble head of Vault Boy. You were pretty excited with your new Fallout memorabilia.

Soon the guests arrived and the party began. While the guest list was small due to COVID, you still had a great time. 

You loved ripping open all your fun gifts. All you had wanted for your birthday was Roblox and Xbox gift cards, and you were not disappointed!  

For lunch, you requested one of your favorite meals - chicken strips and fries from Cane's. You could not get enough of their tasty chicken strips and you kept going back for 2nds, then 3rds. You would have gone back for another plate full until I reminded you to save room for dessert.

Once again this year, you choose your all-time favorite cake - Tres Leches! It's the same type of cake we had at your very first birthday celebration in Bogota. Thankfully, Cafe Latte makes a delicious Tres Leches. You love it!!

Being 13, I wasn't sure if you'd still be interested in playing the piñata game with your siblings, but you most definitely were! I mean, it's full of yummy Lindt chocolate (among other goodies), who could resist!

You had a fabulous time at your party, but that wasn't the end of the celebration. Two days later was your actual birthday so the festivities continued.  You were treated to a couple of your favorite snacks - Oreos and Lays potatoes chips.

For your birthday dinner, you got to choose anything you'd like. And you requested Chicken Makhani from India Place. (Mmmm...it's so good!) These last couple years, you have really been expanding your palate with much more exotic foods. Although you still do love your old standards - both chicken nuggets and noodles with Prego. For dessert, you wanted to stick with your left over Tres Leches cake. You sure were easy to please! 

A very happy birthday to you, Owen!  You are our talkative, inquisitive, tech-savvy teenager. We love you forever and for always!!