Lincoln booked in for surgery

We saw an ear, nose and throat specialist during the week, to plead our case for Lincoln to get grommets. Turned out we didn't have to plead very hard, as the Dr suggested pretty much straight away that, based on Linc's history, it should happen.

So he is booked in for early October to add grommets, delete adenoids, and cauterise any large blood vessels in the nasal passage - a bargain at $2,100... We can't wait, as this whole not-hearing-thing drives us nuts (can only imagine how Linc must feel - poor fella').

Happy Birthday Carter Aston!

It's been four years since The Carter Was Born. Queue cliche: boy, has the time flown. But it has, he's now a little boy, displaying all the behaviours one would expect from a little human that finally understands the need to be an individual, while pushing the limits of family relationships as they realise that, no matter how unfair it may seem, there is a Pecking Order...!

Unfortunately second-child-syndrome has struck again, with both Mum and Dad having to attend work on his actual birthday; but we hear he had a lovely time with Gran, and we sure spoiled him in the morning and evening! He got some wonderful gifts, and thankyou to all for the thought put into those gifts.

We are having a small family gathering this afternoon to celebrate his four years, so that should make him feel pretty special. Check out the fantastic job Mum did on the cake!

General Update - Soccer season over, more hearing tests...

A couple of weeks back, Linc's hearing miraculously returned, only to be lost again due to yet another illness (this one not bad enough to warrant antibiotics, but still enough to affect the hearing).

So he had another hearing test during the week to tell us what we really already knew - that he has glue ear and needs grommets. Luckily he has an ENT appointment on Wednesday where we believe the Dr will suggest grommets...and if he doesn't, we'll likely push pretty hard for them...

It's been hard for him - thankfully it hasn't affected his reading/writing/speaking, but his inability to pay attention is definitely a side effect. He also doesn't like large gatherings of people where there is lots of noise - I can only imagine putting cotton wool in your ears and trying to put up with the loud, yet incomprehensible hum of everybody talking.

Soccer season is over. He has done exceptionally well, having scored a high number of goals for the season (plus the team only lost one game all season) but more importantly, he has really enjoyed it. The look on his face when he received his trophy today was priceless - he was so stoked!

Carter is doing wonderfully in swimming; he really enjoys it, and puts his head under the water for seven seconds now. I can't wait until he's a bit older to start doing more sport!

Amazingly, he has also grown approximately 2.5 cm since June! He is now 107.6 cm, putting him just under the 90th percentile. Linc is 117.9 cm (90th percentile) and 23.2 kg (between 90th - 97th percentile) with a BMI of 16.69 kg/m2 (he just had his Kindergarten checkup!)...

With one of the AFP detection dogs

What a mush!

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...!