Visit to Koo Wee Rup to see the Great Grandmother

Last thursday afternoon we boarded the mighty Mondeo to travel to Koo Wee Rup to visit Ma (the boy's great grandmother) who turned 101 years old in April. She is doing incredibly well, but is probably winding down for retirement, so it was important we spent some quality time with her.

The kids were amazingly well behaved, even if Linc did have a visitor in his bed (a giant wolf spider), but he still slept in the bed (he was very tired) and it, unusually, didn't end up being a big deal.

The kids also rode on Uncle George's tractor, and the four wheeler with Dad. It was a lovely weekend - very relaxing. The only thing that ruined it was the drive there and back - it's over 7.5 hours each way (including a couple of stops) with the highest saturation of speed cameras anywhere in Australia.

Unfortunately Carter got a fever on the saturday, so rather than leave in the morning Sunday, we left at 1630 on Saturday, getting home just after midnight.

General update - ear infections/freezing temperatures/ill family

A lot has happened since the last update; a little too much if I'm honest, but that's life...

It's been a typical winter. Everybody has been sick (strangely, except for Dad - maybe the flu shot was worthwhile after all!) with Linc going on almost three months of not hearing. Ear infection after ear infection, he just keeps getting crook. We have seen an ENT specialist (who said, hold off on grommets, he'll likely get better eventually) and two specialist appointments to have his hearing tested (he is picking up about 50 per cent of a conversation, apparently)...As of yesterday, both kids were on antibiotics - Linc for the sixth time this winter. Yes, sixth time, Carter for the fifth time (tonsilitis the latest reason).

Adding to the life challenges was Mum's sister had a close call with cancer; the shock and sadness quickly permeated throughout the family, with a complicating factor being Mum's parents being O/S (in Africa) and the (wise) decision not to tell them what was going on, thereby losing that support network (by necessity). But we all pulled together as a family and were able to provide constant, immediate support as needed, with pesky things (like work!) being the only thing to really take a hit.

Mum also was on antibiotics for a while with a very nasty sinus infection; it's pretty well cleared up, but she is still not 100 per cent.

We have just experienced Canberra's coldest stretch in 43 years, with four consecutive days of below -6 (one of those days was -7.6!)... But it's not as bad as it sounds, given we have a well-insulated house with excellent heating; although the gas bill is going to be an unpleasant surprise...

Carter is continuing to make life difficult with his regular hissy fits; he is an unbelievably stubborn little kid. But he's also growing up fast, and I guess that it's information overload for him at the moment as he takes everything in at a greater rate than ever before. He has also (finally) agreed to have a go on his 'big boys bike' that we got him for Christmas. Not sure he's picking it up as quickly as Linc, but he's doing very well nonetheless.

We had Linc's parent/teacher interview and, on a positive note, he's well above average for reading, and his speaking and writing are also very advanced for his age group. On a negative note, he is very much a people-pleaser; to the point where he is taking the blame for bad things other kids do. And he's also getting a bit bruised and battered as the other kids are quite rough with him, and he doesn't really fend them off too well. Then when he does, a teacher will see him do it and HE gets into trouble, rather than the kids who caused the incident.

Linc is still enjoying soccer, and doing really well (although he tends to follow the group around, rather than get stuck in); however, he did score TWO goals today! He's also started Auskick (AFL) on a Monday afternoon which he really enjoys. Both boys still attend swimming each week; Linc loves it, but Carter doesn't much like putting his head under water...

We're still loving the house, and have well and truly gotten used to the added traffic noise from being on a busy road; we often have to pinch ourselves that we are lucky enough to have been in a position to buy a house like this.

Anyway, on another note, here's some stats for the kids:

YES, he's as psycho as he looks...

Lincoln June 2014
Height: 1165 mm
Weight: 23.4 kg

Carter June 2014
Height: 1055 mm
Weight: 18.6 kg

Ollie
Weight: 6 kg

The boys meet Optimus Prime

It's nice to know that there are some happy times breaking up the endless torment of winter sicknessess... conjunctivitis is the latest to hit poor Linc, and he's also now back on antibiotics for the FIFTH time this winter... Mum has also been crook for a good couple of weeks now, with her antibiotics not doing much at all. Dad has so far survived relatively unscathed, but he's tough - and it will take a particularly terrible disease to bring him down...

Lincoln's school report

Not much on here we don't agree with; he is very good at things when he applies himself - he just needs to apply himself a bit more...!

Holiday at South Durras

Although a little delayed (we usually go in May), the family took its annual autumn/winter trip to the coast on the weekend; and to mix it up a little, we tried something new - South Durras.

We stayed at a van park, right in the Murramarang National Park; it was very pretty, with kangaroos in the park keeping the kids amused (although only one was semi-tame - the rest were too timid to get near), and the cabin was a decent size with two bedrooms. The park uses bore water, so that was a little 'new' as well - had to make sure the kids didn't drink the water, but we all survived okay; in fact, it wasn't the water that was going to harm the health and wellbeing of the family - it was frayed nerves, sickness and sheer exhaustion - starting with an 0530hrs wakeup on Saturday morning.

I don't need to go into details after that, but Sunday morning wasn't much better and Monday - well, we just got up, went to Batemans Bay for breakfast and then straight home so Chelle could go to the doctor...

And Carter turned into an absolute terror; he became the most difficult child ever; the worst he has ever been. And it basically ruined everybody's holiday (no point beating around the bush I s'pose). Lincoln also put on some terrible behaviour also, but I'll give it to him - he sure knew when to shut the hell up when Carter was losing his nana...

Anyway, a couple of photos from the rare occasion where we actually had some fun...:

And tears as it started raining half way through building our sandcastles so we legged it back to the cabin...

General update - Carter

It's hard not to note that the last few blog posts have been primarily about Lincoln. But there isn't a lot to update on Carter; he's growing extremely fast, and is such a beautiful kid. He's stubborn, and gives as good as he gets (especially to Linc!), but he's just a really good kid (albeit continuing to be well and truly Mummy's boy - he will still run to Mum first when he gets hurt). Although he isn't a great eater; sometimes it takes him 45 minutes to eat a bowl of rice bubbles at breakfast. Very frustrating!

He actually quite enjoys kicking a soccer ball around on Saturdays when Linc is playing on the field. As soon as he's old enough we'll definitely get him in to soccer!

He is still loving swimming and getting really good at putting his head under water. Mum takes him as it's during working hours, while Dad usually takes Linc as he goes after work.

Linc's perforated eardrum + Star of the Week + School photos

Linc has a perforated eardrum.

It was preceded by a middle ear infection which was being treated with antibiotics; however, the antibiotics didn't appear to be working, so last week he went back to the doctor who diagnosed the burst ear drum. The doctor then put him on more antibiotics. We're not sure exactly when it burst, as there was no obvious instance of fluids coming from his ear or anything; however, there was a couple of days where he was a real ratbag - more than usual - and then his demeanor changed completely overnight... we think this is when it burst, as there would have been quite a bit of pressure building that would have been instantly relieved when it burst. Poor kid.

Last night he woke with a fever of 38.3 deg and felt very nauseous. We already had an appointment booked for this morning to check on his eardrum, so that was fortuitous. The hole is still there, and the doctor changed his antibiotics and advised us to seek specialist advice. He has given him the rest of the week off school...Dad is off today, Mum tomorrow and luckily she isn't working Friday, so we're covered.

So we rung the specialist and the earliest we could get him in was October/November. UNLESS we have private health insurance... then we can get him in next week. Finally, the health insurance is good for something after continuously forking out $75 a fortnight for nothing other than peace of mind...!

Last week Linc was Star of the Week at school. It means he is first in line for activities, and 'gets' to pick things up/drop them off to the front office, plus he gets to put a big poster on the door with photos of his life. So Dad went nuts, and Linc polished it off - here is the final product...:

But unfortunately Linc probably won't be at school tomorrow to present to his class on his life history... after all the work Mum and Dad put into the poster!

And his school photo - what a ripper!