Demetrius - gen 1, part 3

We left off with Maisy's birth and two parents unsure how to cope with so many crying babies and toddlers.

It's finally spring again. With some good weather Brad spends his afternoons after work windsurfing. Far away from the house :P

He got home in time to cheer Michelle on as she grew into an adult. Why did this take so long? I didn't accidentally keep her pregnant as she was suppose to age up, effectively keeping her stuck and now they are really far apart in age...nope. Not what I did, at all.

I don't remember who the guy by Lil Brad is. He came to their gift giving party so he thinks he's their friend now and just invited himself over that night.

Lucky for these parents Brad aged up that same evening into a child. He gained the no sense of humor trait and Michelle signed him up for scouts afterschool. Michelle potty trained him, but didn't get around to teaching him anything else so no well raised toddler points for me here.

Brad II : woo.

Lil Brad's first wish was to own a chess table so he could play chess (he is a genius...somehow). With limited funds his parents told him he need to earn the money himself because they had just spent all their money buying him a bed. With not a lot of options with ways to earn money at such a young age, Lil Brad took to the ocean. He snorkeled the whole day. And got nothing.

These two are so cute together! At least there is a reason for them to sit apart, unlike with Brad and Michelle. They may never sit by each other.

Romalee caught a plasma bug! It was worth 3,400 simoleons! Probably more than Brad has earned in his entire career as a journalist. Thanks to Romalee Brad was able to buy his chess table. Michelle's investment in the cat was worth it after all! 

Just to show you, Michelle is about a level 5 in cooking and still burning everything she touches. She must have some kind of anti-cooking trait or something. It is unbelievable.

Brad's boss told him to go out and introduce himself to someone. So he did and this guy was not impressed.

Brad : Uh, personal space.

Angry dude : Grrrrrr.

Brad : Right.

I think, he was jealous. Brad is a three star celeb by now. I'm guessing he wanted Brad to introduce himself to him, and not the store clerk. Sorry dude, but you've creeped Brad out now and it's not happening!

Michelle : Why? Why me? How is this my life?

Poor Michelle. I never see her smile.

These two. They never look at each other when they flirt! What is wrong with you?!

Even Michelle is avoiding eye contact now.

And Maisy has grown into a toddler!

Nobody in this house cares about birthdays! Maisy grew up right behind the Brads and they did nothing and afterwards sat down to do homework together. For a genius, Lil Brad looks pretty clueless :P Brad is such a good dad though, he helps Lil Brad with his homework every night. He's even missed several party invites so he can do homework with Lil Brad. They are so cute!

With the funds from Romalee's catches and a promotion for Brad their bedroom got an update! It's hard to see behind Michelle's snores, but she has kept Nik's flowers from the gift giving party and they are on her bedside table. I think she still wants to escape the crying babies. Nik is not the answer girl, just hang in there.

I also updated the walls and floors of the down stairs. The kitchen looks a bit more like a kitchen now.

Brad : Where did that flooring come from?!

Maisy and Peter :) Maisy is amazed by the gnome. I'm amazed Peter can play blocks that way...

Brad made some money by suing someone who accused him of digging in trash cans. It was pretty risky since the lawyer cost nearly every penny they currently had, but lucky for him it paid off! Michelle would have been pretty upset if he'd lost what little they had saved up.

Brad : (yawn) It was a piece of cake. Like I would dig in someone's trash.

Romalee, out on the hunt. She catches mostly feathers but brings in the occasional critter for the family. Nothing interesting enough to keep as a pet though. Mostly squirrels and garden snakes.

Another weekend and Brad decides it's time to teach Lil Brad how to windsurf.

Brad runs toward the ocean, promptly leaving his son far behind. You can barely even see him in this picture! Brad isn't winning any dad of the year awards here...

Lil Brad : (panting) Okay dad. Now what?

Brad : Are you feeling loose, son?

Lil Brad : Yeah!

Brad : No, son. I'm first.

Lil Brad : Ermph!

Lil Brad : That was unnecessary.

Brad : Just do what I do, son.

Brad : Nothing to it, son!

Lil Brad took to windsurfing right away.

And the went in opposite directions. This was the closest they ever windsurfed near each other. The only father-son part of this day was the start. I tried anyway :P

Lil Brad spent the rest of his weekend at the chess table. Guess windsurfing wasn't his kind of thing :)

Romalee checking out Peter for the first time. She doesn't come upstairs often. Toddlers and pets are always so cute together.

Then Peter grew into a child. I really should do something more with birthdays, I know. It would be silly to throw parties for a toddler though! Peter gained the athletic trait and Brad signed him up for scouts. Michelle managed to teach Peter how to walk, talk and potty trained him so he gets points for being a well trained toddler.

The boys sleeping in their bunkbed. Peter is the one on top all sprawled out. I'm sure it feels good to no longer be cooped up in a crib.

I sent Brad to China. His lifetime wish is to master the athletic and martial arts skills so he needed to visit. I felt like they were finally financially stable enough to send him. He was so excited! I've never seen him smile so much! Seriously, everytime he went anywhere he had this dopey grin on his face.

Brad : I accept your mission, ma'm.

Brad : But first we must fight!

Brad : What the...?!

Brad : Take that!

Brad : Whhhaaaaa...

And he lost. But gained a new belt. He had read a martial arts book before coming to china (he bought it at the consignment store) But clearly book learning wasn't enough.

After their fight the old lady just looked back at me.

Old lady : What is with all the picture taking?

Brad : Just smile. Pretend it isn't there. Everything is better that way.

Brad went down to complete his first mission in china. I figure he will come back at some point so he can take a stab at the tournament so a higher visa level will be worth getting. Cowardly sims are not made for adventuring.

But they make for some great pictures :P

When he found the treasure he had this expression stuck on his face for quite a while. He was seriously thrilled. Probably just wanted out of the tomb.

Next the old lady wanted him to collect rocks and bugs. Brad didn't enjoy getting up close with even more creepy crawlies.

The rest of his vacation was spent pathetically hitting the dummies. It was sad to watch. No wonder he got schooled by an old lady.

Two of the other adventurers were dancing in the dining room during breakfast the last morning of his vacation. I see that smirk Brad. Can two sims not dance when the mood strikes without judgement? Ok, they were pretty bad and it was pretty random...I like the girl behind Brad reading a book and not even noticing the dancers. That would be me. Visiting a foreign land, reading a book, and not noticing crazy stuff happening right beside me :P

And with a final, pathetic slap Brad left China and returned to his chaotic home.

Brad came back in a good mood from his vacation and took some time from his windsurfing to actually help with the kids. I love the way Maisy is looking up to him here.

Michelle : Everything is good here. No one is about to go do something crazy. I'm happy!

Nobody is buying that girl.

I redid the master bathroom. I tried showing it off a bit here but bathrooms are difficult to get good pictures of. Basically. They've got the expensive stuff in this bathroom. The kids bathroom still sucks.

Brad now sings the chinese songs her learned in the shower every morning. He has these dramatic hand gestures to along with it. He enjoyed that vacation a lot!

Brad brought the special chinese fruits home so Michelle's small garden got moved outside. It had to be fenced in to keep out zombies. I swear they are the most annoying thing in this game. Even the special edition plant thing doesn't keep them out. It's impossible.

The boys on their way to school. It's cool how Lil Brad even looks older than Peter here. I think they've both got their mother's eyes. Peter is cuter, at least for now. He just is a bit boring so Lil Brad is my favorite...but he's really not much to look at. Might have to hold out hope for Maisy.

Brad and Lil Brad playing catch. They are so cute! Lil Brad is constantly rolling wants to interact with his parents, mostly Brad.

Lil Brad wasn't very good. He seems like a surprisingly athletic child for a genius. And Peter is the one who is athletic and he never wants to do anything active.

Lil Brad : What, what's going on?

Lil Brad : Look out ladies.

Lil Brad : Yeah? Yeah?

Um, no. Sorry Lil Brad.

I decided not to change his clothing or hair. It seemed like that style just kinda fit him. He gained the born salesman trait and joined the sports and music clubs at school. He seems to like all the activities for the jock social group...but it doesn't fit his personality traits in the slightest. He's a strange one. I think he's just trying to impress his dad.

Brad II : Mooooom. I wanna sleep. Get outta my bed.

Brad II practiced a bit of basic martial arts so he can spare with his dad at some point.

Peter wanted to learn painting so this is the first painting he did. I keep meaning to move the easel indoors since it keeps raining and Michelle does need to master it for her lifetime wish...but it would have to fit upstairs where there is still a crying toddler...getting soaked is probably less torturous.

Brad also brought chinese recipes for Michelle to learn.

Michelle : Thank you, so much, Brad. You go on vacation without me and bring me work as a souvenir. Well I've made you egg rolls. Eat them at your own peril.

Ha! I remembered a birthday! Maisy gets to grow into a child with at least her parents cheering her on. Peter was there too but he doesn't make it into the pictures.
 

Michelle : The last one! The last one! No. More. Crying.

I don't think I've seen her have a real smile since Brad II was born.

And here's Maisy. She learned all her toddler skills, so points for me. She gained the daredevil trait. You don't see a lot of clumsy daredevils out there. Looks like she got Michelle's eyes too. Hard to say whose mouth and nose she has.

I got rid of the toddler stuff and turned the corner into a girly corner for Maisy.

The boys have the other corner. The award is Brad II's from scouts.

Peter : You can't be a dinosaur. You're a girl. I'm tired of explaining this!

Maisy : I can be a pink dinosaur if I want.

I don't know if these two are going to get along or not.

That's it for this update! We'll see how they grow up next time and hopefully without infants to take care of Michelle can focus on her own needs and maybe smile every so often.