Time got an update on A. - now 17 years old (how did that happen?). Earlier today I found a postcard written to him by my Sister to commemorate the day of his birth at Southmead hospital which was addressed to Boy R. as he had arrived so suddenly that we had not got around to deciding on a name - the rather frenetic circumstances of his arrival and my journey back from a holiday to Cyprus to greet him are told in an earlier post somewhere in the archives. It is still difficult to believe that it all happened 17 years ago!
Having started off life weighing in at around 2.2kg he is still as thin as a rake although now somewhat taller - over 6 ft. He is still essentially a carnivore preferring meat based products supplemented by the odd sprig of broccoli and he will also eat sweet corn (and chips if they can be counted as vegetables). Although preferring like most teenagers to hide away in his room or communing with his mates on his PlayStation, he is great company when you can catch him in one of his talkative moods although considerably less vocal than his Sister.
He still enjoys playing football at school and has recently taken up Dungeons and Dragons (and having received a pool table for his birthday the evening is also punctuated by the sound of balls being pocketed at high velocity). He remains a talented pianist but is currently wading towards his Grade 5 under sufferance and notwithstanding the strictures of his glamorous Russian teacher N.getting him to practice is a constant battle. Whilst still enjoying reading he does not devour books in anything like the quantities he used to although he will still crack through a book in double quick time if it takes his interest.
As noted elsewhere, the first part of the year was dominated by his GCSEs and he did very well justifying all his (and his Mothers) hard work so that he is now taking his preferred A levels (Maths, Physics and Computer Science) so no more of the essay writing which he disliked so much. We are now starting to look at possible university options back in the UK with Exeter, Bristol and Kent featuring due to their computing courses as possibilities.
He has made some good friends at school (although as is the way of Dubai, one (R) has recently returned to UK) and is pretty easy going around his peers and their families which will hopefully stand him in good stead when he eventually goes back to the UK. He and his Sister still rub along pretty well albeit they are very different in terms of personality - more about V in another post -but around the family his general default position is to go with the flow and keep to the background and he seems happy enough to do so which is the main thing.
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