21 Things About You at Age 21

 Adults!  For Real!  I'm sure you were babies just a few minutes ago...

1. This past summer you were able to go to Italy with your cousin, G.  We were amazed that you two saw so much of the country in just 10 days.  Milan, Venice, Rome, Naples, Florence, Pisa, the Amalfi Coast, Sienna, Cinque Terra, Pompeii -- Sienna was your favorite, Naples was your least favorite.  Coffee was surprisingly just ok but gelato was awesome.  Water was expensive.
2. Your Italian/EU dual citizenship is in the works, right now it is in the Italian court system.
3. You are happy the border is open again and looking forward to going to Canada again.
4. You have a very nice group of friends that you met when you all worked at Spirit Halloween. 
5. You are a caring friend, always ready to give a ride or help somebody out.
6. You are saving up for a car.  Or an apartment.  Both.
7. Weekly D&D nights with your cousins don't happen as often as before due to everyone's work schedules but you do play as often as you can.
8. You are a hard worker - you have 4 or 5 jobs.  Personally I think that is a bit much and I remind you to keep at least a day free in the week to see your friends, sleep, and play. 
9. You still have the part-time job with Lakeshore School Supplies, delivering and putting together furniture and other items for local schools.  That has slowed down quite a bit but they still call you from time to time. You like getting called for the "away" jobs that involve an overnight stay and free hotel breakfast. You work at the local Lowe's in the evenings, usually 4 or 5 nights a week, with a day shift every so often. Tropical Smoothie Cafe keeps you busy in the early mornings into the afternoons.  That started out as one day a week, but some weeks you work 3 or 4 days. When the apartment complex in the neighborhood needs extra help, you'll do snow removal, salt the sidewalks and other maintenance work. And you have an online coding job that I do not even pretend to understand. :-D
10. You are still a night owl though these early morning jobs are making you go to bed much earlier than you would normally prefer.  A few times you have fallen asleep in your dinner.
11. You went downhill skiing for the first time recently.  It was fun! But you experienced your first sports injury ever and first broken bone ever.  You slid headfirst into an electrical box and broke your nose!  You said it didn't hurt that much though the blood was a bit alarming.  The ride on the snowmobile with the ski patrol was fun.  No concussion due to wearing a helmet and a visit to the ENT a few days ago fixed your nose without needing surgical intervention.  That was a big relief to all of us.
12. You still do a lot around the house without being asked.  
13. You planted a tree in the backyard!
14. You still don't seem to feel the cold when outdoors but you will put on more layers without rolling your eyes too much at me.
15. You quietly listen and pay attention and that makes you an inventive and thoughtful gift giver.
16. You still love turkey subs with lots of veggies.  New favorites are white pizza (with spinach!) & Rueben sandwiches.  You like Greek, Indian and Thai food.
17. You cut your hair short again and your curls are back.
18. You still love a hooded shirt and a leather jacket.  You "borrowed" your brother's fleece-lined hoodie and have lived in it this winter.  Yeah, he's not getting it back.  (I did buy you one too that's exactly the same but... ?)
19. You are always up for playing with the little cousins.  You are great with little kids, very patient listening to them and getting down on the floor to play with them.
20. You often house & dog sit for relatives.  You like the little bit of independence and privacy and love their dog.  Whenever we go over there she is so happy to see her buddy and stays glued to your side.  
21. You spend an equal amount of time telling Paul to stop singing so loud as you do hugging him.  You are always aware of where he is and what he is doing.  He prefers it when you are "in charge" because you let him eat snacks!

1. Final year of high school!  Senior Perks! You are still "the Mayor of North" and a walk through the hall is all fist bumps and high fives.  
2. You still go to the Harkness Center for half the day and have settled into that routine well. This semester your internships there will be with the Salvation Army and Joann Fabrics.
3. Your first district internship this year was at Anderson's Ice Cream and you *loved* it.  You did a really really great job and got a glowing report.  We really see the progress you are making towards working independently without your job coach being right next to you.  You just started this week at BJs and are very excited about working there.  Bonus that your uniform includes a hat :-D
4. We have started looking for adult day hab programs for you next year.  It's stressful for us but we are seeing some good options, so we are getting more confident that we will find a good placement for you.  Priorities are that you are with other kids your age, you are out in the community and have a variety of activities to keep you busy and engaged and active.
5. We went to Disney on Ice a few weeks ago and you loved it as much as ever. Dad and I enjoyed watching you just as much as the skaters.
6. In health news, your thyroid is still good & your cholesterol is too.
7. This fall you joined Unified Volleyball and you really enjoyed it.  You were a stealth point getter :-D  Special Olympics bowling is happening now, as is Unified Bowling with school.  You love having your own ball and shoes and being with your friends and teammates.  Unified Basketball signups are in a few weeks!
8. Adaptive Swim just started up again and you were SO happy to get back in the water!  We switched up the days a bit so you don't have more than one activity in a day.
9. Your teacher started a Unified Club after school once a month just so you can all do some social things and that has been a lot of fun.
10. Your recital piece for dance this year is going to be super heroes.  You keep telling Miss Chris that your favorite superhero is FoodMan (from a Wiggles DVD) and you laugh and laugh when you tell her that.
11. We finally made it to Gigi's Playhouse and you are taking a Narrative Photography class.  You were a bit hesitant at first being in a new place with new people but when they handed out the cameras your smile was so big!  There will be a gallery showing at the end of April with the opportunity to sell some of your art.
12. Your friends at school that you have speech with asked if they could have a birthday party for you since this is a "big" birthday.  I love that you all take care of each other and that you have such a big friend group.  Mrs. W. always gets the best photos of you all too!
13. Meat sticks and pickles and craisins are still your favorite snacks.  Pasta is still your top meal request.  Making your own breakfast almost always includes meatballs.  You like to lie on the floor in between the ottoman and the couch and have a little snack picnic, which cracks us up.
14. We had to get another hat rack to accommodate your growing collection.  It's still hard to choose the hat of the day each morning though!
15. Your favorite shirts are the ones from Life Is Good and your North or Unified shirts.
16. Orange is still your favorite color.
17. You have been listening to a lot of Elvis lately.  
18. We are hoping for two respite weekends at Cradle Beach this year (last year there was a lot of sickness/staff shortages so you only got to go once.) We are also hoping Kiwanis Camp happens this summer for a week.  That also got cancelled this past summer due to staff shortages but they planned a lot of lovely day things for everybody instead - a movie, a picnic, a boat ride, etc. so you still had fun.
19. You still love planning what we are getting for take-out on the weekends.  
20. You are starting to like staying up later at night and sleeping in when you can.  You complain loudly when it is time to go to bed.  
21. You still give out hugs with abandon.  Hopefully that never changes!  Dad and I get our fair share but Mark gets far more than us - than anyone - and you always look for him first no matter what.