Happy Birthday Catherine!

Guess who's THIRTEEN? The first teenager! In case you haven't been able to spend enough time with her recently to know, Catherine dominates as a teenager.

I really wanted to do something fun for Catherine's 13th birthday. Maybe a little trip? A show or outing just the two of us? Big party? And she wasn't really interested in any of it. All she wanted was to go to the beach, and it being January and us living in St. Louis, the beach doesn't come close to qualifying as a "little" trip. However I talked to Aunt Kristin about driving the kids down to Florida for a visit with them sometime in May, as soon as everyone was done with school but before the summer camp schedule kicked in. So I told Catherine I couldn't get her to a beach in January, but if she would be willing to take a raincheck on the beach trip until May, then we'd all go. So we had a small party with family and ice cream cake for her real birthday, and looked forward to cousin Christopher giving us surfing lessons come May.

Before the party: all kids have to sit ON the table instead of in chairs to play games at the table, right?

Oreo ice cream cake courtesy of Dema!

Agnes thought all of the present were for her to open, of course, and Catherine is the kind of big sister who lets her believe it.

After presents, Gigi brought out one of her famous magic tricks. She gave the kids a few hints on how to accomplish this chain-and-ring trick, and Edie was the first one to figure it out!

The haircut she gave herself must have made her super smart.

Hi Mamo!

I know we're only a few months into this teenager phase, but for the moment I'm leaning to the side of THREEnagers being much more difficult to live with than actual teenagers. Here's a little "moment in time" picture of what Catherine is doing at 13:

• Height: 5' 10" (taller than me if I'm slouching holding a toddler, but not quite taller than me if I'm standing up straight)
• Shoes: Definitely bigger than mine now, but I got some nice hand-me-downs from her, so that's good.
• Hobbies: Volleyball, watercolor painting (she's getting quite good!), growing houseplants, piano (sporadically), baking, sneaking oversized t-shirts and hoodies out of Daddy's closet, and a fun little pasttime we like to call "pushing Mary's buttons," unless they're both in the mood to be friends, which is more often than the mutual button pushing.

If teenagers have a reputation for being disrespectful and selfish and distant, well, we're definitely not there. Catherine is generous and fun and involved, better at entertaining Agnes and getting her down for naps than I am, and loved by her siblings and friends. Her one teenage habit is probably taking lots of selfies, but I'm actually fine with that.

Happy Birthday, Catherine! I'm sorry we haven't been to the beach yet, but we love you!