Happy 13th Birthday, Savannah!

Dear Savannah,

Happy 13th birthday! How in the world do I have a teenager now? No, it can’t be true! I started this blog before your 2nd birthday and now here we are….poof…..you are a teenager. The days are long and the years are short. That’s what everyone has been telling me and now I can whole-heartedly believe them. These years are flying by and I could not be more proud of the young lady you becoming throughout these years. Here are some things I would like to remember about you when you turned 13 years old and some things that you might like to know about your 13 year old self.

You love dance. It’s your everything. You are trained in all styles of dance. You competed again this year in Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) and are preparing to compete in another semi-final next week. I absolutely love watching you dance. It’s truly a joy.
You still like to be early everywhere you go. As you say……early is on time and on time is late.
You are extremely disciplined. I never have to remind you to do homework, get ready for dance or do what you need to do. The only thing I have to remind you about is to clean up your room, but hey, if that’s the extent of it, I’ll take it.
Your favorite foods are broccoli cheese soup, cheeseburgers, avocados, cheese tortellini, shrimp, Everything Bagel Seasoning (from Trader Joe’s), smoothies, frozen waffles, pickles, olives and cheese fries.
You don’t like to be trendy. You don’t try to be weird or different, you just tend to shy away from anything that becomes too popular or trendy.
You have been doing remote learning (7th grade) all year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and you are loving every minute of it! You would love to never go back to school and be homeschooled forever. You like working at your own, faster pace and it also gives you more time to focus on dance.
You have grown so much in the last year. I think another 2 inches and you may catch up to my height. Your legs are definitely longer than mine, for sure!
You love make-up and skincare. You watch make-up tutorials and love to try new techniques. You’ve gotten really good at doing your own make-up.
I feel like you have become way more independent this year. You finally will do your own buns for dance, make-up for competitions, pack for yourself, you don’t need me in the dressing room and you have a confidence about yourself that is beautiful to see.
You are always trying to get your little sister, JoJo, to love on you. You wish she was more affectionate and would hang out with you more, but Miss JoJo is always playing hard to get.
Your best friends are still definitely your dance friends. They are like your sisters and you are so happy to be dancing with them again in person…..even with a mask.
You like fashion, but like I said…….nothing too trendy. You put together really cute outfits.
You won’t tell anyone what music you listen to these days. I don’t know why, but you are very private about your musical tastes.
You are a really good friend. Often you are competing against your friends at dance competitions and you are genuinely happy for them when they do well. You do not get upset when they place higher than you and you celebrate their wins.
You love to chat with me (Mama). You tell me lots of details about everything. I love that you feel you can confide in me. I still annoy you from time to time, but we are very close. I hope it stays that way as we navigate through these teenage years.
You like to film videos and you are really great at editing them. You film all kinds of things. Sometimes with your siblings, sometimes by yourself, sometimes with friends, etc.
Currently you hope to grow up and be an OB/GYN. You love talking about women’s health. You talk WAY more openly about things than I ever did with my mom. You also would love to deliver babies. I’m not sure you are prepared for how much time, energy and schooling is involved in this profession. But if you are willing to dedicate yourself, I’m sure you’ll make it happen.
You like to call me Linda lately. It’s kind of an inside joke, but I have some mom friends with names like Karen, Melanie, Jennifer, etc. and you think Linda fits better than Lindsay. It’s funny……but no one but you and I would probably get it.
You love to sleep in on the weekend. You are great about setting your alarm if you need to get up early for dance, but if you don’t have anything going on, you can sleep past 11:00.
You are also a night owl like your father. You don’t get home from dance several nights a week until 10:00 so you love to stay up late to relax. It’s fine with me because you always get up when you need to each day.

Savannah Rose, I could not have been blessed with a more amazing first born child than you. You have so many things about you that I just love. You are smart, kind, caring, hard working, disciplined, organized, responsible, talented, beautiful, funny, sweet and the list goes on and on. As you enter these teen years, I can’t wait to see you continue to blossom into the beautiful young woman I know you are becoming. You make me so proud each and every day. Happy 13th birthday, sweetie!