It’s been an exciting year for Soren, starting high school and now officially becoming a teenager! With two teens in the house, the level of kids sleeping in has increased but….. so has the messy rooms and time chatting on devices. It seems not long ago they were all babies or toddlers and now it’s only Zinnia who is officially a kid (and we aren’t paying adult prices for everywhere 🙂 ).
The birthday celebrations….
As Soren’s birthday is at the end of the Spring school holidays he was keen to do something with his friends before the crazy busy run into Christmas set in. A small sleep-over with friends was the request. We were mid painting and doing minor house renovations so the house was an utter disaster area, but we figured it was better to do birthday activities during the school holidays and while big sister Astrid was in Japan for a school trip. The teenager parties are easier to organise than our themed parties of younger years, but there was definitely more noise and no sleep!
The boys did enjoy making their home-made pizzas and then feasted for many hours on snacks while working their way through many movies.
The birthday cake….
Soren had requested Japanese Cheesecake (a souffle style cheesecake flavoured with yuzu) as a birthday cake. I got full marks from his Japanese friend, Aru so my baking skills are still in order.
The no sleep zone….
After much popcorn we did convince Zinnia to get to bed at some point and she slept through the noise for a few hours. The boys watched seemingly endless movies and got louder as the night went on.
Anto and I managed to sleep from about midnight til 3am and then found Zinnia up with the noisy boys every hour or so. All of them were proud they didn’t sleep all night, I’m not sure the adults got a lot more sleep either. Lucky it was school holidays!
After breakfast croissants they all ran off the last of the sugar at the local oval. Then Soren was unconsious on the couch…..where he didn’t move for many hours.
The family celebrations
Before school went back we went out for a birthday dinner, to of course all you can eat Japanese. Soren’s obsession with all things Japanese and anime has not yet ended. Astrid had been back from her 2.5 weeks in Japan for exactly one day when she was dragged out for more Japanese food, but she didn’t seem to mind.
The big day…
Sadly for Soren his actual birthday coincided with the first day back of school for term 4. We still managed a birthday breakfast and presents before the early run to band practice. Soren chose loaded breakfast wraps this year.
This was followed by a few presents. His main present from us was a new (second hand) road bike as he continues to insist on growing. He got a few bits and pieces to open from us and his siblings, with Hunger Games books, watch bands and more One Piece figures that Astrid had lugged back from Japan.
It was off to school for the day. As we had piano, flute and saxophone lessons that evening it was a low key birthday dinner of Karaage chicken (yes the Japanese theme again!) but also my tiramisu which is a family favourite.
Like most teens the present requests are all for expensive things these days so Soren had to pool his money from all the relatives to buy his much wanted VR headset. It arrived after his birthday but has been a huge hit and it’s apparently fun for Dad’s too and we have some amusing videos of Anto trying to fight villians in the family room!
While the VR has been a hit, Soren was even more excited that our new furry family member arrived the day after his birthday, so he could enjoy more cat cuddles.
The thirteenth year…
Soren might not have hit his growth spurt yet, and he is definitely still pint-sized but it’s still been a very big year being 12.
Primary school wrapped up and the adventures of High School awaited. He still has his great group of mates, with a few new ones added and they can now roam further around the suburbs on bikes on the way to school.
For his 12th birthday Soren did his Open Water Scuba diving course and has has done some dives down the coast and in Noumea. He continued to add to his overseas adventures with trips to Japan, Fiji and New Caledonia.
Japan involved plenty of his favourite foods, One Piece and snow. With ski lessons and Soren finding another way to do dangerous things! New Caledonia added plenty of open water swimming, snorkeling and scuba diving to the list and we had many glorious swims with turtles.
Between all the travel and school there were endless swim meets, dance comps, soccer games, band and music concerts and bike rides. If there is a competition or sports event he can enter he will. Soren sits still about as much as I do!
Somehow we have kept him alive til teenager-hood. I’m not sure how, given this child should have been born with his own box of bandaids given he is permanently injured or bleeding! Lucky he is still cute…… I don’t think we’ll ever stop hearing ‘I have a question…..’ followed by 10 minutes of non-stop questions. At some point all those giant meals he eats will result in a giant growth spurt, and he won’t look like a kid any more. Until then we’ll enjoy the kid version of Soren 🙂
Happy 13th birthday Soren…..
