The Eighth Family Birthday of the Year

Elliot on his first birthday

Today Elliot, my second grandson, becomes a teenager. He was in a hurry to enter the big wide world thirteen years ago and caught his parents by surprise six weeks before he was due. Despite his early arrival he was a good weight and had no health or developmental problems.

Last year, with Louis

He was quite a slender baby and toddler and has grown into a tall, slim boy with not an ounce of spare flesh. Like many boys of his age he prefers to wear his hair long and fortunately the school he attends, though strict about uniform, is relaxed about hair length. He has grown up a lot since he started secondary school, travelling by school bus to his grammar school, having a house key to let himself in on the rare occasions that Nina is not at home to open the door.

Elliot is a natural sportsman, very good at all ball games. (His great-uncle, Nina’s uncle, was an exceptional international cricketer, both behind the wicket and with the bat.) He enjoys the company of his peers but is perfectly capable of spending time alone reading or working on his computer.

Earlier this summer - his hair is a little shorter now - but not much!

Elliot has extraordinarily expressive eyes which reveal his emotions more clearly than actions or words. He is kind and loving, affectionately demonstrative and a great role model for his siblings, particularly Louis, who wants to be just like him. He also has a pronounced sense of humour – he and Louis go into fits of giggles which cause Eve to roll her eyes and sigh.