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Box Three: time to populate this level

Two sets of Bags for Box three, Bags 5 and 6

Bag 5 sorted and ready for build

Starting the Walls

I didn’t realise it at this point, but that stair case in the throne room was going to be demolished again right near the end of this bag set, Dark Grey and Black are way too close in the instructions, and I used a couple of black pieces in the stairs that should have been Grey, they are hidden from view, but where I needed the Black pieces in the Detention block was a major stand out.

There is a functional door going in on the right. The little perspective trick that is used on the detention block to make it look like it goes back a heap is a really nice touch.

This is a part when first things went astray, I thought a piece was missing, found a replacement in my spare stash and moved on, later I realised it was bigger then that.

Starting to show the perspective build up

Functioning door to cell, break away bars and the fall in panel into the trash compactor

The sliding door in place

Probably should have used the macro lens for this shot, but falls back into blur to the detention block

The control room, but no cupboard for droids to hide in

Door open

Bag 6 sorted and ready for Build

Details in the throne room are nice

Building up before the next level

The beginning of a death ray

End of Box Three

Final Box to come….

Build Stage 2: Box 2

Building this Death Star, and all the other Star Wars Lego I have in a display cabinet at the moment is for one purpose.

Building up a collection of Lego for Sean to get creative with, it’s not all going to be left as the current state and just kept for display, all these parts can be mashed in together and create something new when he plays with it further down the track as well.

I had a fairly large collection of Lego as a child, I gave that, and most of my toys away or threw them out, don’t actually have anything left from my childhood toys left to pass on.

Lego is timeless, and it harbours creativity in a mind.

Anyway, onto box 2, this box contains one bag set, set 4, plus two plain bags of large plates and will be the floor base of the second level.

All the base plates follow a similar design, but with a few holes in three of them, this one makes the opening for the elevator

This is a solid floor, no holes

Here we have the third floor piece, with the hole from the detention level down to the compactor

The communication station in the detention level

Connection to the power core

The line Leia and Luke swing across the gap on

The completed floor level and box 2 finished

Not a lot of detail, but a sold build again and a lot of parts to put it together. onto box 3…

Christmas had lost it’s shine being a 38 year old, you forget what the joy is, you look at the money flow out, get stuffed on food, drink a heap and shudder at having to return to work in a few days time, none of the long breaks of childhood away from school.

This year brought the joy back, if only in a little way, Sean is only 10 months old, but this was his first Christmas, and it brightens me up to think of how many more we are going to have together and what he will be able to experience on those magical mornings

His Cousin Zara is now almost three, she gets the presents now. If not fully comprehending the whole Christmas deal, but she knows how to tear open the wrapping paper.
Sean knows how to eat it.

But getting the Kids dressed up and in the Christmas spirit is fun again, things we will do together. I can’t wait to do an Advent Calendar with him in the future.

Until then, cheesy photos help bring the magic back.

Day 2 – Off to Work.

Today we wake at 6:30 am, I’m normally out of bed just before 7 am, but I had to get to work from a strange location and the new routine involves and early rise feed.

Kate jumps in the shower while I’m still here and I play with a grumpy little bugger, he did sleep through the night, which is not unusual for Sean.

I walk to Campsie train station to catch a ride into work, bit of a longer walk then I expected and Campsie is not an overly attractive area, but I get to the station in time for a 7:39 train and arrive into work at 8:10, not a bad trip, a 7:44 from home gets me in for 8:30.

So today is all about Kate following the plan with the help of the nurses, and an update at 10:30 tells me things are going well.
I struggle through the day at work wondering how Kate is coping but a few more calls assures me everything is working out.

I ditch the office early and get the train back to Campsie, cold, wet miserable Sydney weather is a great end to the week. Missing out on a night of fair well drinks is also a downer to the trip in, but Sean is my main priority.

I get back to Tresillian to find Kate relaxing on the bed and Sean asleep in his cot next to our room. All as it should be.

We get him up, have dinner, a bath and a bit of a play. Facetime with Brenma and Grumps down in Tassie for a bit of a surprise then off for a another sleep at 8:30.
I watch as Kate goes through the process, and it works after two visits for a pat and settle, our little man falls asleep…. for 45mins, we rinse and repeat but this time he gets the dummy.

The story continues

Day 1: Tresillian – A Family Care Centre, here we have come to find out why our little man cannot sleep, or will not as the case may be.

We have arrived here for check in at 9 am, parking isn’t the easiest but the whole area around the facility is free unmetered parking. The actual facility sits at the back of Canterbury Public Hospital and is an easy drive to get to from home. We have decided that I will stay for the entire duration apart from tomorrow when I will go to work for the day and return at night. Other wise it’s full days here trying to get Sean sorted.

First part of admission Sean is taken off by one of the nurses and weighed, measured and overall looked at, we go and do a little tour of the quite nice and fully stocked facility. our own private room with en-suite and separate sleep room for Sean, that isn’t used on the first night he is in a nursery where he will under go monitoring and settling by the staff. Night one is a night off for us.

Kate has an interview with admissions, going over family history, basic questions on expectations, daily routine and a bit of a psych evaluation, you know, post natal depression stuff.

We have determined that his sleep is an issue and a routine is sorted, but something that I have been thinking about for a while, and has been flagged by the paediatrician is that he is underweight, not a lot, but he should be a bit heavier then what he is, probably only about 500gm extra.

A change in eating habits is in order, breast feeding is still a go, add extra bottle feeds after midday and increase his solids, pear, apple, pumpkin has already been tested, rice cereal not his favourite, but mixed with some fruit he will eat it.

It’s not easy having to let him go off and be put down to sleep, especially as he fights it so much, and hearing him cry and not doing anything is difficult. Kate really struggles to let him go, but that’s why I’m here too, support for her and learning for myself.

First sleep, no dummy and he goes down pretty easily, we wonder who’s kid this is.

Second sleep, he’s back to his normal self and fighting the sleep waking up every 5 mins or so, glad we’re not insane and he is having issues for others.

Third sleep and tricks are back on again.

It’s now 6 O’clock and we have dinner in half an hour, Sean will be up soon for a feed.

Let’s see how the rest of the night goes.

Sometimes you have to wonder how you have turned out as a parent.

Is it right for your son to come home from the pub and just let loose with a tirade at how the world is and how it should be, or have you done right by the little guy and brought him up in such a way that he is open to intelligent conversation and stands by what he believes in.

Where does discussion end and ranting begin?

Should we as parents allow such talk to come from our sons mouth, and at such an age?

I think you need to just watch the video and let us know what his tirade brings to your view of the world

Here I present to you one of the great joys of being a parent.
The laughter of your child is a special thing and getting it captured on film at the early stages can be hard, we were lucky tonight as Sean was having a great time just being chatted with.
He also has one of those laughs that make you laugh as well.

Well, I’ve been very slack in my updates of Late, but not a hell of a lot to write about on the child front.

He is a little poo machine that keeps us on our toes and doesn’t like to sleep much, I’ve figured I can get him to settle best when I sit down and finally watch Firefly, 10 years late, but it’s a great show.

Whedon also did another great show just recently, The Avengers, man was that a ride and a half. First night out together without Sean, we got to see my kind of movie 🙂

Sean is 9 weeks old this past friday, we need to keep an eye on his development and record him for prosperity. Kate managed to grab a little video cam a while back for  a bargain price, but it has proven to be a crap investment when it really comes down to getting those moments captured, mainly in the sound area.
So I convinced myself to splash out on a new piece of Hardware…. finally got a Canon 5D mark II. full video recording and a full frame camera. Hoo boy!
here is a crappy starting video or two of Sean to show what it can do, mind you, I didn’t go the Mark III thankfully, Canon recalled them all due to a light leak, not a good thing on a piece of equipment worth 4K.

I did manage to change jobs in the last month, a massive move for myself that has dropped my stress levels a bucket load. It’s doing the same thing, for the same people, from a different side of the fence, with higher pay and a team behind me. Big decision, and I feel that my old boss is copping a lot of stress for himself from my leaving, but I had to look out for number one. The old boss is a great guy and it was nothing to do with him that I left.

So in the last year:
1. Married
2. Moved House
3. New Car
4. New Baby
5. New Job

Don’t know if there is much else you can do in a year without going overseas or winning lotto…. here’s hoping!

So the two previous posts I made about the impending birth of our son, Sean, on how I would react and what to do, became a non event for me.

But only in the sense that we were presented with the solution of not having that all bells panic of the surprise labour, you see the Mrs has had “morning sickness” 24/7 almost since conception.

This has led to worrying times over what to cook for dinner… NO MEAT! NO ONIONS! what is a man to live on? veges???

Kate’s little episode two weeks back led to a discussion with the OB, and due to health concerns for Kate, not Sean, he was cooking away nicely, induce time was set.

So we knew exactly when to be at the hospital, 8-8:30 on Thursday night.
all packed up and on the way in the car calmly driving to the hospital, not what you expected a few weeks back.

Nothing got kicked off that night anyway, little Sean, being the stubborn little shit like his father, decided he didn’t want to hang out down at the cervix like all good kids waiting to be born should.

So they put us up for the night and waited for the morning, where Kate was reassessed and the process started for real.

I’m not going to fill you in on all the gory details here, but Kate was an absolute champion and did her best to get the little guy out. Happy gas is a funny thing to see her on, and I’ve never been so scared for her then when I saw the look in her eyes as the epidural was applied, a fear of needles is a killer in a time like that.

But being there for her and supporting in whatever way I could, and probably not enough as I think back on it, but with a little help for the vacuum, Sean was ejected into this world at 2205 on 24/02/12.

The mark on his head will be with him for a little while, but apart from that we have a beautiful baby son, that is going to bring so much joy into our lives.

This blog really is going to start kicking off here, I have 3 weeks off work to enjoy time with my new born, then back to work for two weeks to hand over before I start in a new job on 2nd April.

But besides that little hurdle, my life is now going to be dedicated to teaching and nurturing this little person for the rest of his life.

Welcome to the adventure, Sean, strap in, it’s going to be a bumpy ride!