14.5 years old!

 Today is Ian's half-birthday! Here are some developments over the past six months of his life:

1. He shaved off his mustache for the first time ever.
2. He became more comfortable with performing for an audience and discovered he really, really enjoys being in a musical. He did a great job as Vlad Vladikoff in MCS's production of Seussical and the Mad Hatter in our small homeschool production of Alice. 
3. He's grown at least two inches and will soon be passing Nadia out in height for the first time in his life.
4. His voice has been changing. Most of the time he sounds like he has laryngitis. 
5. He finished 8th grade, which means he's now a high schooler! The last course that he finished this school year was Algebra 2. Next year he'll be taking Geometry and Chemistry.
6. He was selected to be on the A team at Nationals next week for the first time. He recently memorized the book of Colossians.
7. We've begun the process of having him tested for sleep apnea and also seeing an ENT regarding the fact he can't breathe out of his right nostril. 
8. He performed a solo in a piano recital for the first time in February. Recently he's begun working on a piano duet from Beethoven's 3rd symphony that he will perform with Addi in November. He always enjoys playing a wide variety of songs that he finds online on Musescore. He also has been working on Chopin's Military Polonaise - using the same copy of music that I used decades ago.
9. He spent time in South America for the first time in his life in February. 
10. It's no longer hard for him to switch from long sleeve to short sleeve shirts when the weather gets warmer, but the transition to shorts is still not easy for him.
11. He resumed seeing an orthodontist once a month as he began the second phase in February. 
12. He attended a Tim Hawkins show and a TobyMac concert which were both firsts for him, and they are two of his three favorite artists. 
13. He's gotten into a regular habit of doing push-ups every day.
14. He spends about $10 on Brawl Stars every month. 
15. He went water skiing for the first-time last month, and he loved it!