Family Update

Since I am trapped sitting in my rumpus room with one of my children, I thought now would be a good time to get back on the blog and give you an update on all of my offspring and The Hermit.

Her Majesty: She's the reason I am not allowed to leave aforementioned room. She woke at 5:30 this morning in tears because she missed me, along with a fever and headache. I'm going with the "it's a virus" thing, because so many of these childhood illnesses are just that, so no need to worry. I cancelled my scheduled pedicure, which was a sure sign she really was sick as the spa I now go to is located in one of those indoor kids entertainment playgrounds which Her Majesty just loves, and aside from a quick trip to the optometrist I've been by her side all day. She's not very good at being sick.

But recent illness aside she's doing very well indeed. She finished her first year of full time school in December - called Prep here in Queensland - and is looking forward to going into Year 1 in a couple of weeks. She had been after me for months about football sign ons - next month - and will play another year in the Under 7s. She is still swimming twice a week and has been moved up to Killer Sharks, which is an hour long lesson. She has risen to that challenge, not being intimidated by the length of time or the doubling of the class size or the sheer size of the kids she swims with as most of them are a fair bit older than she is. This is a good thing as she's still on the small side - 110 centimetres or 3'7", which is the 5th percentile for her age. Her energy, however, is boundless.

We're currently reading the 3rd Harry Potter book, her favourite toys are her Littlest Pet Shop pets and the Wii the kids got for Christmas. She particularly likes the balance games on the Wii Fit Plus.

Miss Thing: Unfortunately Miss Thing is not really changed since she moved back home in September. I say unfortunately because we keep waiting, and poking, and prodding, and hinting, and discussing, and waiting for Miss Thing to make some decisions about the direction she'd like to take. Aside from not liking her job - teaching at the same swim school where Her Majesty and Clive swim - and complaining to everyone and anyone who will listen about how much she does not like her job she hasn't done much to get another job. She's talked about doing up her resume, we've mentioned job hunting sites, discussed further education and given her much encouragement but we're still where we were at in October when she came back from her visit Stateside. I think reality has hit home for my eldest but she's in a bit of denial. Not just a river in Egypt, you know! But because I find the whole situation very frustrating I'm going to leave it at that, m'kay?

She's planning on playing netball again this year after a year off, which is always good to see. She had gotten herself into a drama filled relationship with an ex-boyfriend but thankfully she has moved on with a boy I have dubbed Cheese Boy. Don't ask - if he sticks around for any length of time I'll explain. She's very much into the whole Twilight thing, which I totally don't get but if it gets her reading I'll keep my mouth shut. Still no license but given she gave up saving money for a car nearly a year ago... Another subject I'm not going to go near.

Do you get the feeling Miss Thing is stressing me out a bit?

Sparky: If Her Majesty is a peanut, then Sparky is... well the opposite. Growing like a weed, he's easily the tallest and not quite 15 yet. He starts senior school at his high school in a couple of weeks when he starts Year 10. It will be a change for him as he will find his classwork and homework increases in preparation for the all-important Years 11 & 12. We keep reminding him of the coming changes and what Miss Thing went through, but aren't certain if we've made our point.

He spent a week out in Toowoomba right before Christmas at the Queensland Rugby League junior footy camp and had a great time. His Wests coach was there as well, and happened to be his coach at camp, and tells me Sparky was rated #1 for agility at the whole camp. I was impressed with that, as well as disgusted by the huge gouge in his side that he brought home as a souvenir of the hard-as-cement ground at the University of Southern Queensland. He didn't seem to mind, though. Prior to the Christmas break, he was going to the gym with his coach to do some weight training with some of the other boys, as well as some kickboxing stuff that I'm not even going to attempt to pronounce. The boy is super-fit. And of course he still loves his X-Box, and enjoys the Wii as well.

He still gives us fits with his inability to remember to do simple household chores like cleaning the pool or taking out the trash, but I haven't given up hope of him remembering one of these days!

Clive: Last but not least, we have Clive. Clive turned 3 just a few weeks before Christmas and is still as full-on as ever. From the second he wakes up until he finally falls asleep he keeps us busy. Clive's biggest issue is his speech - it's lousy. We only understand 50-70% of what he says, and that's only because we know him so well. Someone who doesn't know him as well can only understand 10-20%, maybe. He knows exactly what he's trying to say, and if you tell him you don't understand and ask him to show you he does just that. He knows his numbers and letters, but they just can't make it from his brain to his mouth in any coherent form. Fortunately he has an appointment with a speech pathologist this weekend, so I'll keep you posted.

Otherwise he's a typical if incredibly stubborn 3 year old. Heaven help us if we do something for him that he didn't want us to. Toilet training was surprisingly easy, with him being fully trained well before he was 3. He's even dry 99% of the time at night, but he still insists on wearing a nappy. And he won't poop on the toilet, but we're working on it. He's very mechanically inclined, and loves to start up The Hermit's motorcycle and rev the throttle. It's actually very scary he knows exactly how to do it.

Oh, and he's a nudist. Loves to be butt nekkid.

He does like his bedtime Bob the Builder or Green Eggs and Ham bedtime stories. We can occasionally read something different, but it never lasts. He's also a huge Spongebob Squarepants fan. I can't fault him for that. We'll see how he handles the upcoming footy season and if he shows any interest like Her Majesty and Sparky... although with my luck he'll love cricket. And like his siblings, likes the Wii. He's pretty good at most games, too.

The Hermit: I wish I could say he's enjoying his new motorcycle but it kept stalling and it seemed it was in the shop more than he was riding it. It's fixed now, and it's very pretty and sleek but I don't think he's getting the full enjoyment out of it yet. He has cut back on his work hours a fair bit, by which I mean insane hours to normal ones. He often beats me home from work, or isn't too far behind. And anybody who's his Facebook friend will have noticed he's a super Farmville farmer.

So there's your update on the family. Unfortunately in the time I've written this Her Majesty is about the same, so it looks like one of us will need to stay home tomorrow with her. Hope you enjoyed the update.