Tanya Karaman Photography: Letters to my Children

Dear Noah,

You are the subject of my letter this month for a couple reasons. First of all, we just celebrated your 15th birthday a couple days ago, so it is only fitting that I dedicate a blog post to you. Also, you are the only one I haven't dedicated a letter to in my monthly letters to my children thus far... and there is a reason for that. Quite simply, you don't end up in a lot of pictures...for the same reason that I don't: You prefer to be behind the camera. So your birthday was a good (sneaky I know) opportunity for me to take your pictures without raising suspicions :)!

You are such a special kid in so many ways. You are my only boy. I know you were hoping one of your sisters would be a brother but that just never panned out. I am happy to be able to call you my favorite son :). I think boys are often closer to their mothers than girls and I am glad that we are close. I love our little private jokes...love your sense of humor and I can always count on you for a laugh or a hug. You are so good with your little sisters and I am really proud of you for being so responsible and loving with them. You really do have a gift for photography. You are really into video games right now (and not much else) but I hope someday you'll make the time to develop your other talents as well. The only real difficulty we have right now is your school work. I guess you are just at that age where school is boring and you are not quite old enough to seriously be thinking about the future or having it seem important to do well. I have been there so I get that, but I am hoping that will change a little bit this year as you will be starting high school and the grades you make will start to count toward the future.

You are showing a desire to be more responsible and independent already as you are constantly telling me how much you want to get a part time job and I think, as long as you can keep your grades up, that might be a good thing for you. Next year, you will be driving (OMG!) and soon after that, you will be all grown up. So hard to believe. I can remember like it was yesterday holding you in my arms your first night in the hospital and memorizing your little face while you slept (you would ONLY sleep if I was holding you...and it was like that for a loooong time. I know I've told you the stories of how I used to sleep on the floor next to your crib because you would only sleep in your crib if you were holding my finger!). Such a little cuddle bug...haha...sorry! :) Love you so much buddy!!

Love
Mom