Matty is a Teenager

My Matty,

You are 13 today. The years are flying by. You have grown up so much in the last year, though, that you look like you are 14 or 15. In fact, I laughed during spring break when you were getting fitted for a harness to zipline and the employee asked your age. I coached you to say you were 13 because I was going to have Brayden lie and say he was 12 (the minimum age to zipline was 12). You answered this man in your deep voice and said "14." Based on your deep voice, your fuzzy mustache, and your ripped body, you look at least 14, probably older. It has been amazing to watch you grow and mature in just one year.

I have tried to interview you several times in order to get your current likes/dislikes at age 13, but you are not interested in my silly questions anymore. So, I will document want I see in you and what I think you like/dislike at this age.

• You have a ridiculous number of friends. You are liked by many and are a leader, even though you don't recognize it. You love to hang out with a posse of boys including Will Boone, Mersam Ghodrati and Danny Katz. Personally, I think they are trouble, particularly because Will's dad is single and you guys get away with more at his house. However, in recent weeks, those friends have taken an interest in Brayden and you even allowed him to sleep over at Will's house one night, so maybe they are not so bad after all? You are also still buddies with Kyler, Blaine, Lucas, Quinn, Carsen and many others. In fact, you are having your birthday party next weekend and invited about 30 guys to Lake Boren!
• You have been on a gluten-free diet for almost a year (since June 2023), and it has made a HUGE difference in your migraines. You were having 3-4 migraines a week and were taking 3 medications before you stopped eating gluten. Now, you are on NO meds and you rarely have a headache, let alone a migraine. Absolutely amazing.
• Of course I support your GF diet, but the onus falls on me to make your breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's been a challenge, but I am grateful for the wide array of GF options now. Your go-to meals are Mexican or Asian - tacos, pad thai, teriyaki bowls, and fried rice are on our regular dinner rotations now. You are pretty worthless in the kitchen. You cannot make anything. Just recently, I taught you how to make a protein shake (water, crushed ice, protein powder, banana, peanut butter). I think you learned how to make toast a year ago. I sure hope your desire to make food increases in the coming years!
• Your favorite restaurants are Chipotle (burrito bowl), McDonalds (Big Mac without a bun), Aji (crunch rolls) and Tapatio (carne asada).
• Baseball is still your favorite sport. You are really enjoying your new team and have been working really hard this season! You have started waking up at 6:00 AM to hit balls in the garage before school. I admire your grit and hope it pays off for you this summer. Your team is playing in the Seattle Elite League this spring/summer and is 10-0 so far (as of 5/17).
• You played Liberty Select basketball and Cougar Mountain Middle School basketball this winter and excelled on both teams. You are very aggressive on the court! Everybody loved when Matty played because you are not afraid to go after the ball. You had a lot of 3-point buckets this year as well as a lot of free-throws (because you were fouled a lot after stealing the ball). 
• Aside from school, sports, and hanging out with friends, you spend a ton of time on your phone playing BrawlStars. I don't get it? When I try to watch you play this game, I get bored and walk away. You also watch a lot of YouTubers. Again, I do not get it.
• You spend a lot of time on your hair. I've had to buy hair products for you that I have never heard of, and I giggle when I hear you in the bathroom using a hair dryer in the mornings.
• You wear sweatpants and t-shirts/sweatshirts daily. Never ever do I see you were jeans, sweaters, or anything that is on the "nicer" side. Nike is your brand of choice. I have spent a lot of money on shoes, socks, and clothing from there in the past year.
• You do not have a girlfriend that I am aware of. I have no idea if you talk to or flirt with girls at school, but to my understanding, you are not interested at this time.
• I am still blown away by your sweetness on Valentine's Day. You do not share much with me, but I know that deep down, you love me. You still give me great hugs and allow me to snuggle with you from time to time when we watch TV. I still drive you to your bus stop every morning, and we do our secret (I love you) handshake before you get out of the car. 
• You ask me for massages almost every night before going to bed. You complain of stiffness/soreness in your hips, and I have such a hard time massaging them. Your hips/butt are so solid, and it hurts my fingers to try and massage them.
• Your favorite class is PE. You are a good student; you work hard but some subjects do not come easy for you. Both first and second trimester this year, you had 4 As and 2Bs. You've gotten B's in advanced language arts both trimesters, so it is not your strongest subject. In fact, you've never gotten above a B in advanced language arts in middle school. You also hate to read, so that obviously is not helping. Ha!
• You have a newfound interest in lifting weights. In fact, you have walked over to our neighbor Ollie's house a few times after school to lift in his garage. When we were on spring break, you asked to go to the gym almost every day. For your birthday, we are giving you a set of hand weights ranging from 5 to 25 pounds, and we also got you a weight bench. Dad and I plan to convert the 3rd bay of our garage into some sort of fitness area, but it will take us some time to find a rack and make space for it.
• I asked both Taylor and Brayden how they would describe you (I told both of them I was writing a blog post for your birthday, and they both said, "You have a blog?" I find this hilarious since I have been blogging since I was pregnant with Taylor). Anyways, they both described you as "cool." Brayden said you are nice and mean. Ha!
• Your spiritual life leaves a lot to be desired. I will own that. We have not been attending church regularly because of baseball. We do not pray together much at night because we are too tired. I carry a lot of guilt for not leading you spiritually. I have started volunteering with WyldLife (the middle school version of YoungLife), and you have begrudingly come along with me to the few meetings we have been available to attend this year. You are going to both Sambica and WyldLife camp this summer, so my prayer is that you grow closer to Jesus on these trips.

Matty-Boy, you bring me so much joy and I am so damn proud to be your mom. I hate watching you grow up on me, but I know this is God's design. I am grateful to have a front row seat on this journey. Stay true to yourself. I pray that you follow your heart, are kind to others, remain a leader and show off your beautiful smile more.

My 13-year old on his special day