[Nevertheless] Moondragon is Fourteen

I tell this child all the time to stop growing and to stop getting older, but he never listens. 

Coren is officially fourteen, as of 9:52AM. I remember it was 9:52AM because his was my first homebirth and it was incredibly memorable. I remember it was 9:52AM because my labor was finally over, after three days of contractions. I remember the time because my sister called exactly eight minutes later, 10:00AM on the dot, to find out if we wanted to go apple picking. That is how she became the first to know of Coren Ryu's arrival earthside. Well, the first besides Coren's three older siblings, two grandparents, two midwives, "Aunt" Rachel, and Daddy.

Moondragon has been quite the unique child since birth. He was our first homebirth, weighing in at 10lbs 14oz - and amazingly my easiest birth. He was allergic to the world, having contact allergies to just about everything and many food allergies. He was an avid nursling and shunned any other type of nourishment until he was eleven months old. He was a man of few words, speaking in mostly vowels until he was three, and considered non-verbal until he could be understood by people outside of his family when he was four to five years old. For the past two years, this formerly non-verbal child has performed in Mainstage productions at Epoch Arts in East Hampton, CT, most recently in Shadows of Truth as Uri. 

In his early years, he had a passion for dinosaurs and space, hoping one day to be a space paleontologist. His interests have changed over the years, but one thing has remained constant - when he's interested in something, he learns all he can about it and builds an encyclopedic knowledge of the topic. 

Coren has always been a cuddler, and I love that my fourteen year old is still a cuddler. That may change at some point, so I treasure every request to cuddle. 

Coren has high functioning autism, as does his older brother. Coren is a sensory seeker, while Alex is a sensory avoider. It used to be that I was constantly needing to arbitrate between the two of them, as their sensory needs clashed. These days, it seems that some of their best days are when we leave the two of them home alone together so that they can delve fully into the worlds they've created and the games they love without siblings interfering. 

Fourteen seems so much older than thirteen - and Coren seems to have matured exponentially this past year. I'm excited to see what life has in store for him this year!