Milo my middle son you have reached high school this year. You are suddenly so much taller, but I still can’t believe your age. Your voice is deeper. Your hair is still blonde, but now shoulder length. Your eyes are blue as ever and you have a great laugh and smile. You are witty and funny. Sometimes you seem shy. You only wear t-shirts and stretch waisted pants.
You are still computer, video game, anything screen really, obsessed. They are your only real interests. You do not want to play an instrument, join a club/group, or play any kind of sport. You have zero interest in any other hobby besides gaming, at this point. You are getting into coding and making your own games now though. Who knows? Maybe this is a career path for you. I try to get you outside whenever I can, but most of my attempts are futile.
You do still love our pets and are always kind to them. You love for them to cuddle with you and seek you out. It makes you happy when Midnight chooses your room to sleep in during his day long naps. You chase after any cat you see hoping to pet it or secretly cart it home.
You love space still. You are captivated by the images and by its depths. You get lost in your thoughts about the millions of galaxies that are out there. You wear your NASA shirt most often.
Classes are a lot of work for you this semester, since it’s highschool. Most of your day at home is spent on the computer – typing, looking up things, reading articles, writing essays, doing your Algebra class, etc. Your work is good, but it takes you forever to get through the assignments. You say that you can only do you best work at night or when your stressed to finish it. You keep campaigning for the computer to move into your bedroom. That is still a hard no from us. Sorry, love.
You are still my sweet little Milo. You hug me throughout the day. You tell me that you love me. You come to my bed to tell me goodnight most nights and lay next to me for a few minutes. I know those days are numbered, so I never rush you away. You are always the most talkative at night. You are pretty quiet and into your screens during the day, but once I’m ready to sleep- you come alive with the most exciting things to talk about it. Oh, Milo.
You have long hair now and do not like it to be trimmed. You have long nails, too. You do finally agree to take showers, but they take so long. You wash every inch of your body. Slowly. So very slowly. Our water bill makes us cry. We are yelling at you through the door to hurry up and telling you that’s enough and save some for the rest of Norfolk, but you only say, “O.K” and carry on with the water running.
You do not like me to ever take your picture. You run if you see me even trying or even if I’m in the room taking a photo of something else, so it’s a wonder that the above images exist. These are the shots of you as you reached your 15th year. We love you so much, Milo.