The Nugget is Nine!

Our little Nugget is turning 9 today. It's ironic that at around 6.30am, 9 years ago, I was feeling some pretty full on pains in the belly and this morning I woke up feeling that same pain but for an ENTIRELY different reason.

Last Wednesday I had my hysterectomy which got rid of all those pesky fibroids that were giving me grief for the last year. Ironically (again) they had me bloating up like a blimp each month and at the moment I'm feeling like that massive airship which blew up ages ago ("Oh, the humanity! the humanity!"). But apparently I've been progressing well and the wonderful nurses at The Sands in Wahroonga were pleased with my recovery talents (did they not see that projectile vomit I did on Day 2? I'm sure I coughed up one of my remaining ovaries!) enough to let me go home on Saturday.

I've never had major surgery before and it's surprising how many things require the use of your stomach muscles (eg. sitting up, lying down, dressing, sneezing, pushing chairs in - OMG, I think I caused a hernia that time...). The rather unnerving observation is that the scar looks as if it is being held together with little strips of sticky tape. The doctor assured me that it wasn't stitched up and these "strips" would hold me together until they dissolve in about 10 days.

Also I'm finding it difficult to walk as slow as I have had to, I'm usually the one striding ahead of my family as I usually find it impossible to walk slower than a sprint. The Moneymaker took me out into the real world today for a real coffee and I felt very strange shuffling slowly around the streets holding his hand whereas he would usually be struggling to keep up.

But enough about me (I'll probably post about my recovery a bit more later, sorry, it's occupying alot of my mind lately!), my little man is growing up!

"I've finally got an iPod Touch"

He woke us up just at the time he was born and 10 minutes later he was sitting with his longed for birthday present - an iPod Touch.

I thought I would "borrow" Naomi from Seven Cherub's tradition of listing the 9 things that I love about my little Nugget (hope you don't mind, Naomi!):

1. His smile - he has had a beautiful smile on his face since being born (even though he plopped out fast asleep!) and when things are getting tense around here he always tries to smooth things over with his baby blues and a big smile.

2. His adaptability - whatever the situation (a new school, a new soccer team, a new house), Nugget just throws himself in there and fits in. He makes friends so easily that I can't keep up with who is who and what their Mum's name is (yeah, blame him, not my aging brain!).

3. His talent at succeeding at almost everything he has a go at - his sporting talent is legendary, any ball sport he tries he excels at. Hopefully all the money spent in fees and petrol driving him to cricket, seasonal soccer, Footsall, summer soccer and specialised training (no we don't push him, he absolutely loves it and begs to go), will return to us when he is an international football star and buys us a villa in Tuscany.....

4. His competency at school – after a rocky start where The Moneymaker spent many, many hours teaching him to read, he’s at the top of the class in spelling and reading. Nugget has always had a knack for Maths. When he was around 6 years old, I remember him impressing a gathering of guest at a BBQ with his amazing multiplication abilities when we were trying to work out a problem (definitely inherited from his father, but I’ll take credit for his English skills thankyou very much, even though I didn’t have the patience to teach them I passed them on in my genes!).

5. His sweet and caring nature – even though he is a typical rough and tumble boy who can now beat up his Dad, sometimes he surprises us by helping out his little cousin or playing with the little kids at a family party. His hugs are even sought after by his cynical big sister. Nugget also has a sensitive side at surprising moments, for example while watching Terminator 2 he got a little teary when the robot was being melted in acid at the end (his Dad said the only movie he cries at is Rocky so I think this may be from his side). The Nugget also has a soft side for animals. I remember once when we discovered a bird that had come to grief on the footpath, he gently picked it up in his hands and placed it under a tree to make it comfortable. I didn’t have the heart to say it was probably already gone.

6. His love of music, in particular, MY type of music!! OK, I did try to influence him from an early age to listen to the legends like the Rolling Stones, Beatles, Doors, David Bowie, ACDC, Jimi Hendrix, Santana (oops, I better stop, I could go on for a while!). We have a little tradition after school when we drive home and I turn it over to Triple M (the Chicken would be horrified!) and I talk to him about the music playing on there. His first CD at age 5 was a collection of number one hits by The Beatles which he has always called The Bugs.

7. His musical talent! He has been taking Rockschool lessons for around 3 years now and is a natural on the drums, can pick a mean bass and lead guitar and has learnt a few popular tunes on the keyboards. Though his enthusiasm for being a drummer in the school band is waning, I hope he keeps it up. Just don’t ask him to sing.

8. His goofiness – as a member of this family you could not survive without wit. I wish I wrote down the things he comes out with sometimes that cracks us all up without him even trying.

9. His enthusiasm for life – everything is exciting and he goes at everything (sports, work, food, etc) with great gusto.

Even though it sounds like he’s the prodigal son (his best mate, his Dad, would admit he is), he still drives me crazy with his noise, kicking the ball in the house, whinging about everything and taking so long to get ready to go out. But he’s pretty close to perfect.

Now I’ve got to go and give him a hug cause I know I could go on with this list.

Happy Birthday Nugget, love you to bits.
xxx