Happy Birthday to...

Arthur!

Number 1 Son will be 14 tomorrow.

Our long awaited second child arrived 7 years after our first, after much to-ing and fro-ing to the infertility clinic, many horrible/embarrassing tests, being told to give up and finally being given an experimental drug that really seemed to kick things into gear.

He arrived 2 weeks early. The birth was tricky as he kept disengaging and going to sleep! We were finally given the choice of going home or allowing the midwives to force the issue. My wife let them force the issue - one pushing his behind while the other waited to catch his head and guide it into position. OUCH! He was born soon after but not until my poor, heroic wife had to stop pushing while they cut the chord from around his neck.

He was the smallest of our babies, just under 7 pounds. Long, with big hands, feet and head, but very thin in the body - he didn't even have any butt cheeks! Not to worry, a couple of weeks of breast feeding and he was like a cabbage patch doll!

He grew and developed quickly, crawling and walking earlier than usual. He was also fascinated by computers, learning to use a mouse before his first birthday. He soon loved playing Lemmings, as described in a post a short while ago.

He has grown into a great , um, young man I guess I should say now, very intelligent and polite with a strong sense of right and wrong. He once wanted to join the Police but this has given way to a general concentration on computers, maths and science and is now working his way towards getting into the best university he can, possibly Oxford or Cambridge. After than he is not sure, but that is not really a problem anyway is it? How many of us actually ended up doing what we had planned to do when we were 14?

Looking forward to a great weekend.