Teenager in the house! Joe Faranda turns 13

My oldest boy Joe is having his birthday today. “Why it seems like only yesterday that we got him.”

Indeed. Joe’s start with us was a bit shaky. The social worker bringing him over from his foster care family in Queens to join us in Manhattan had her car hit hard in the side on the trip over. Joe had to be taken to the Hospital for Special Surgery to be sure he didn’t have glass slivers in his eyes (He didn’t). He also arrived with a massive mess in his diaper.

So it was an auspicious start as a Faranda for five week old Joe.

But now Joe is a star (says the proud Dad). In fact he’s just finishing the five week summer “High Achievement Program” at Fordham Prep, and is being given the award for overall achievement in his particular group of 17 boys.

We’re hoping this will help expand his vocabulary beyond the “Uh, Yea, uhuh, whatever” stage he has been in the last six months or so. Joe is 4′ 11″, tall for a 13 year old by Faranda standards, but still leaving him at the front of the line at school.

And he doesn’t like having his picture taken. Here are the best efforts today.