happy 14th birthday, caleb!

Caleb turned 14.  Hard to imagine.  13 is so young and 14 is so teenager-ish.  How can it be?  We used to refer to him and Andrew as the "little boys".  (It's kind of pathetic.  Bri and Cam were the big kids, Alissa was Alissa, Caleb and Andrew the little boys, and Leah and Micah the babies.)

Anyway, he is no longer a little boy!

He is steady, calm, stubborn, Micah's bff, and a lover of the Bible.  It's the only book that he reads (besides school text books).  Did I mention he is a planner?  When we are making an overnight trip to NH and I tell the kids it's time to pack, he tells me he has himself and Micah packed already.  And he almost never forgets anything he wanted to or was supposed to bring! (unlike his mother!!)

He has been through quite the journey in the last year as we have worked hard to find the source of his migraines.  He is now much better off and knows how and what to eat and not eat to stay headache free.  He can't have any chemicals in his food.  That tiny sentence is packed full of implications.  The amount of time it took to realize that, to understand what chemicals are, how to identify them on labels, and how to make or find things he can eat was a huge endeavor.  He knows more than most people about the effects of BHT, high fructose corn syrup, yellow dye (or any dyes!), polysorbate 80, TBHQ, MSG, BHA, aspartame, sucralose, and many other things hidden in food.  Thankfully he was willing to learn and can control most of his headaches by eating only real food.

Some of the things he loves:

• playing chess (he recently tied for first in his division at a tournament in Cambridge and even got to take home a little prize money!)
• using his hatchet to chop wood
• studying Hebrew history
• visiting his cousins in NH
• everything staying the same
• dressing nice
• bagels and Brianna's cinnamon rolls
• Christian rap

Some of the things he does NOT love:

• squash, zucchini, and sweet potatoes
• change
• any attention being drawn to him
• reading 

We took him to Chipotle for his birthday dinner- one of the only places he can safely eat!  After that we went to Dick's Sporting Goods for him to spend his birthday money.  It was so much fun :)

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Happy Birthday, Caleb!