Our Brave Boy!

Ben went into hospital this week to have grommets fitted, an adenoidectomy and to have a vessel in his nose cauterised (after night-time nose bleeds). At the last minute the surgery was moved to an afternoon slot which meant an overnight stay. A starving boy was taken to the hospital on Thursday morning and admitted to his private room, with en suite and bed for Mum too! (Lets hope the insurance company are true to their word and cough up the $4500 for this little lot!!!!!)
He began to get a little nervous and refused to talk to the nurses and a little bribery was necessary to get him to take the pre-med. He happily put on the teddy bear gown (he did smile in the other photo, honest, but it was out of focus!)and loved being tucked up in the big bed. He was pretty in awe of the rolling bed and going down in a lift and thought that Mummy looked silly in a yellow paper gown and blue paper shoes. I held him in my arms while the anaesthetic was given by a very nice man and then put him on the bed with a kiss.
An hour or so later I was called down to recovery where Ben briefly opened his eyes, gave me a hug and promptly went back to sleep! An hour later they moved him (still sleeping) back to his room where he stayed for another couple of hours until we woke him up for an ice lolly. He loved that! but then was sick. They gave him an anti emetic and he perked up a bit although he only ate the ice-cream with his dinner! By 8pm he was starving again (and not tired) and polished off a packet of crisps, some chocolate and a cheese sandwich. Then he took off down the corridors with the camera snapping all the nurses, flower arrangements, ceilings and carpets! I managed to settle him by 9.30 and he slept beautifully. Unfortunately for me I woke up every time the nurse came in to do obs while Ben slept through the thermometers in his ears, and the pulse rate monitor on his fingers!
He woke when breakfast was delivered on Friday and demolished his Weetbix! We brought him home and he was excited to see Joe again. Everything was back to normal pretty quickly and it didn't take long for the fighting to resume. Luckily he only needed a couple of doses of paracetamol and hasn't complained at all! What a brave boy! He is very proud of the smiley face plaster a nurse put on his hand after the tubes were removed and now refuses to take it off!

Trip to Oz

We headed to Oz with the clan a couple of weeks ago for 8 days near Byron Bay in New South Wales (about 2 hours south of Brisbane). The house we stayed in was a couple of streets from the beach but was equipped with a great heated pool in the garden. Ben and Joe spent many hours each day in the pool with Ash, Indy and Olive. Joe and Indy had a long ongoing game where they were dolphins and seals while Ben adored jumping in yelling 'Tsunami' and trying to create waves to knock Ash off the inflatables.
The beaches (complete with squeaky sand) were beautiful if a little rough for swimming, but they all enjoyed splashing in the surf and collecting shells.
We had a couple of outings. One to the lighthouse at Australia's easternmost point and another to see the animals at "Macadamia Castle'. Highlights were the kangaroos and emus, the cockatoos that shouted 'Hello', petting baby bunnies, feeding goats, a sleeping wombat's bottom, and arguing whether the crocodiles in the lake were real or plastic! (Ben is still convinced they were real, despite Joe's insistence).
We returned back to a chilly Christchurch at nearly midnight so the kids got the Friday off school too! Back this week and then a short one next week for Show Week.
Ben is having grommets fitted on Thursday so we are hoping that goes well. Hopefully it will sort out the glue ear and enable him to hear a little better. Unfortunately it means that he misses out on swimming for a few weeks. He has just started swimming lessons and thoroughly enjoys them. He spends a lot of time bouncing up and down. The teacher is amazed at him sinking and putting his head under the water. Ben is also especially pleased with his new goggles (pink) and a new swim hat for post grommets (a pink cat - photos to follow!). He has now progressed from pink as a favourite colour. When asked he says all the colours are his favourites but when faced with a choice in the shop....... it's pink every time!
Joe is immersed in more touch rugby - he is not so impressed as they have lost some games and he says that it is not as organised as his last team ! - perceptive! He also started athletics club this term and has been enjoying sampling different sports. He has shown an aptitude for sprinting, longer distances, long jump and shot put! Next year he will be able to compete fully and can make more choices - this year is just a little bit of everything. Good luck to the coach who takes twenty 6 year old boys for Javelin!!!!