Friday 7 May 2010

Fire in your belly

Round 26: Autumn 2024
last update/next update

Eliot Lane is 38, Cordy is 31 and Timothy is 4.
(Luc is 31, Debbie and Linnea are both 64 and Augustin and Hanna are both 69)

Narrated by Cordy Lane

Timothy is turning out so much like Eliot. It's amazing that you can see it at four years old but you really can.

For the sake of the house, it's probably a good thing. I hardly have to clean at all, with the boys following me around mopping up my puddles and cleaning the toilets the second they get dirty.

Timothy is more like me in other ways. He wanted to learn to swim, so I started him out floating and he just took to it straight away. He's a total water baby!

I don't want to push him into going professional or anything, like I did but he's got a good technique and I bet he could if he wanted to!
Eliot and I are both really glad that Timothy's such an active kid. We like keeping fit and it's something we value for Timothy too.

Eliot would do well to occasionally remember that Timothy is only four though. He throws that ball so hard, I'm amazed it hasn't hit him yet.

Timothy is at such a great age right now. He's gone at pre-school in the afternoon so when I'm home, I feel like I have more time for myself. But when Timothy's home, I have so much fun hanging out with him anyway. I don't miss the baby stage at all.

I'm going to have to psych myself up to deal with little ones again soon though; Eliot and I are expecting another baby in the summer! It was planned, although we were expecting to have to try for at least a little longer than we did, seeing I got pregnant so fast with Timothy.

We weren't sure what Timothy would think but we tried to sell it to him by talking about how great it will be to have another playmate around.

He's not quite as enthusiastic about the idea as we were hoping but maybe he'll get a little more excited when the time draws nearer.

I'm not showing yet but Eliot's already started feeling my belly every day, just in case he feels a kick. It's very sweet but it's probably a bit early.

I think some of Eliot's excitement has rubbed off on Timothy though. He saw his dad rubbing my belly and I think it finally clicked for him that there's a baby in there. So now he talks to it and he's a little more open to the idea of a little brother or sister.

Eliot couldn't wait to tell his parents. They were both so happy - this will be their seventh grandchild.

Eliot's parents are so adorable together. I often wonder how different my childhood would have been if my parents had stayed together.

I have been making an effort with Mum lately, at Eliot's urging. We're doing okay, I guess. She's never going to be my favourite person but Timothy loves her and I don't want to rob him of his grandmother.

Timothy really does adore his grandmother and I know she loves him too. I just have to pick our conversation topics carefully and avoid the things we tend to argue about.

I was a bit worried about inviting Mum to the family barbecue we normally have on the weekends but again, Eliot insisted. I was so worried she'd embarrass me somehow but it all went smoothly.

I think it's good for Timothy to see both sides of the family together every now and then too. I don't want to pass my family angst onto him.

Now that I'm getting along with both my parents (to some degree, at least), I'm starting to wish they'd agree to being in the same room together. But as it stands, they only ever visit separately.

The relationship I have with my other mother, Debbie, is much more of a mother and child type relationship. She came over to see Timothy, forgetting he'd be in pre-school and we ended up talking about all my pregnancy symptoms until he came home.

She was just doing the motherly thing and worrying about me but I'm really feeling okay. A little tired, a few cravings, not much nausea; nothing I can't handle!
Timothy loves all of his grandparents but I think he might love Luc more than he even loves Eliot and me! If Luc hasn't been over in a few days, all we hear is "when's Uncle Luc coming over again?" until he finally visits.

Before I had Timothy, I would have never considered Luc one day becoming a dad but I can really see it now.

He's so great with Timothy and I really wasn't expecting him to be. I hope this new baby is as close to Luc as Timothy is. But what I'd really love is to see Luc with his own kids one day.

Notes:
  • Title is from Fire In Your Belly by Liam Finn, who I'm sort of fangirling over right now. He played support for Wilco when I saw them on Saturday and Sunday and he was so wonderful.
  • Eliot and Timothy talking to Cordy's non-belly was just me experimenting with allmenus again. I wanted to see if they'd be able to use the interactions before Cordy was showing and obviously, they could! I was really impressed that Eliot's hands were touching her belly and not just hovering about it, as if there was a belly there.
  • This is the first round since Cordy started college where she and Linnea have not argued. It was very strange! I kept waiting for them to start fighting but they seem to be getting along.
  • Baby Lane is due in Summer 2025. I'm as excited as Eliot is, lol! Because this is the last autumn update, I've already bumped Cordy up to her second trimester. And seeing Cordy got pregnant, I'll be doing Winter birthdays tomorrow after all, as little as there is to report! ;)

17 comments:

  1. I love the shot of them swimming together so cute.

    The picture of Eliot telling his parents-priceless, you can really see the joy :)

    I laughed so hard at the pictures of the boys talking and rubbing her non existant belly. Also, her necklace is very nice, I wouldn't mind having one like that in RL.

    Your white fence in the backyard is perfect. Is that from a stuff pack?

    Luc is so good with his nephew, I hope he does have children.

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  2. Apple Valley, thanks for reading!

    I was, for once, excited that one of my Sims' OTHs was Fitness. I'm so bored of that one but it seems fitting that Eliot and Cordy's kid would be into it.

    Eliot's a Family Sim, as is his dad and his mum is Knowledge/Family. So they all live for babies! Much excitement around for the Lanes and the Novaks right now!

    Cordy's necklace is a part of her outfit, which I think is by confide at TSR.

    The white fence in the backyard is actually by crocobaura at MTS. I think there are two other colours as well but it's my favourite fence. So useful!

    All my Sims have at least one kid eventually, so you can count on there being a mini-Luc around some day!

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  3. Aww, I'm so happy that they are expecting again! I think this baby is goig to be just as cute as Timothy!

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  4. Aw, congrats to Cordy and Eliot and Timothy! Another baby will be so cute--just look at how adorable Timothy is! ;)

    And Uncle Luc is adorable too playing with his nephew. So sweet. :)

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  5. Riverdale, let's hope so! Timothy is pretty adorable. I thought he was more of a mix initially but I think he mostly looks like Cordy (which means he'll probably turn out a lot like Luc).

    Shana, Luc rolls up so many wants for Timothy, it's too cute. Luc's become a bit of a softie over the years, apparently!

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  6. Seeing Cordy back floating with Timothy gave me a big smile. So much like my own childhood with my Dad.

    I'm SUPER excited these two are having another one! About time!!

    It's great seeing her getting along with Linnea better, and the family BBQ was great.

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  7. Maisie, they did that floating thing autonomously! I love it when they do stuff like that. I didn't even need to move them closer together.

    Heh, about time! Timothy's only four!

    I'm really surprised Cordy is getting along with Linnea. I really haven't seen them get along since Cordy was a teenager.

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  8. Awww! I love the swimming pic too. That's perfect. He's a nice compilation of him mother and his father in some ways.

    Also, Luc! LOL! Who knew he'd be such a great uncle, but that seems to be how it happens sometimes. It probably helps that he's a special visitor.

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  9. Lunar, thank you, I like it too, I wish they swam like that for real though! The floating is in game but the swimming is posed. Cordy would teach her kid to swim laps, not just randomly around the pool, lol!

    I definitely wasn't expecting Luc to be so enamoured with his little nephew but he's surprised me! He really does love Timothy. But yes, I'm sure it helps that he's so adored by Timothy!

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  10. Yay, congrats on the pregnancy! I'm sure the baby will be adorable. Timothy is such a cutiepie.

    I can't wait for Luc to have his own kids, he's so great with Timothy.

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  11. "I hardly have to clean at all, with the boys following me around mopping up my puddles and cleaning the toilets the second they get dirty."

    Ah, Carla, I see you've now begun writing fairytales? ;)

    I see Luc eating up that attention too, lol! But Timothy reminds me so much of my little boy. They really do get all excited like that about their aunts and uncles though!

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  12. Laura's comment about fairy tales is so funny!

    The picture of Cordy and Timothy swimming laps together is great--he is almost drafting her. That's an interaction I wish the pool had--to swim laps or race laps, and another good one would be to play sharks and minnows.

    The picture of Cordy snuggling Timothy is adorable.

    And why can't my Sims be reasonable and have their children 5 years apart?!

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  13. Sari, oh, man, do you know how much restraint I'm exercising in not having Luc go and make like 100 babies with Asha right now? LOL, I'm dying to see him with his own kids!

    Laura, only because Cordy's living a fairytale! Eliot and Timothy are both maxed out in neat, so they follow her around the house cleaning. A four year-old who scrubs toilets is something that exists only in this game, I'm guessing!

    Luc does love attention! ;) And I'm 29 next week (ugh) and I actually still get really excited when I get to see my favourite aunt and uncle! LOL.

    Francesca, I don't think I know Sharks and Minnows! The kids at school play a game called Sharks and...Dolphins, I think, though, so it could be the same thing (they play it with the lookout/cubby house in place of a pool).

    It's really only Cordy who's reasonable. Eliot would have had her knocked up as soon as Timothy turned one, because that's when he rolled this baby want of his! I somehow think I'm not going to see the same restraint from Lia and Gordon!

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  14. Sharks & Minnows--one person gets in the water touching one side of the pool, as a shark. The other players all stand on the edge, on the other side of the pool. The shark heads towards them. If she touches the side before they jump, they become a shark. If she tags any of them, they become sharks and join her. It's fun!

    It's not just rolling the wants; even my Kyra and Wyatt, who didn't "want" kids, got pregnant so fast with ACR. I had adjusted the settings in SimPE but maybe they're messed up now.

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  15. Francesca, yeah, that sounds like Sharks and Dolphins! It's funny how different names for games can be in different places!

    With my Sims, if neither Sim has the want to be pregnant, I'll usually put them on birth control. If one Sim's got the want and the other doesn't, I'll decide a) if I'm even letting them have another, b) how old the other kids in the family are and c) how big I want the gap to be. But I don't know...it's kind of taking some of the randomness out of it for me, so I'm considering doing like Laura and only having my neat Sims on birth control.

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  16. Most of my Sims that are having babies every year ARE on birth control!! Because I also put them on it if they don't want kids or if they've just had a baby. Maybe with the updated ACR it will be better.

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  17. Francesca, if you're using ACR 2 and you haven't updated it yet, you definitely should! The old BC has been confirmed as buggy - you actually had less chance of getting pregnant from unprotected woohoo!

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