The Murray Wonder Child Project: Final updates. COMPLETED

[BallerinaHippo]

Introduction:

Hello, and welcome to my Wonder Child Challenge!  I’m sure most of you are familiar with the basic premise of this challenge so I won’t repeat the rules here, but I will post a link to Pinstar’s website for anyone who would like a refresher.  https://www.simslegacychallenge.com/wonder-child-challenge-rules/
 
First, a disclaimer:  I played this challenge several months ago, and only recently decided to share it here.  That means the pictures I have are whatever I happened to capture at the time, and I wasn’t necessarily thinking of writing it out as a story.  I started with a Wonder Child Challenge because it’s short and the rules aren’t too complicated.   It was sort of a baby-step for me before trying something more complex.  And it leads itself almost directly into the Apocalypse Challenge, but more on that later.

I created my two adult Sims in CAS using the randomize feature.  I simply took the first male and the first female that CAS generated for me.  I chose their traits and aspirations and made minor adjustments to their clothing, but I did not alter any of their physical features.  So without further ado, let’s meet the happy couple…er…roommates.



Say hello to our prospective father, Joe Murray (as in “Average” Joe).  He’s a cheerful Sim, a genius and a music lover.  His current aspiration is Fabulously Wealthy which gives him the Business Savvy bonus-trait.  His aspiration will change, though.  One nice thing about the Wonder Child Challenge rules is that you are allowed to switch aspirations at will.

This lovely lady is our Wonder Child-to-be’s future mother, Jenna Erwin.  Or at least we hope so.  It looks like Jenna is wondering what she got herself into right about now.



Jenna is a creative art-lover who is also family oriented.  Her first aspiration is painter extraordinaire which gives her the muser bonus-trait.  Let’s see if meeting Joe will perk Jenna up a bit.



Hmm…maybe not.  That’s a forced smile if I ever saw one.
After some brief introductions, Jenna and Joe each find separate rooms in the house to begin skilling.  No need to force things on the first day. 

Note: I forgot to take pictures of the house on the first day, but they started with a modest one-bedroom, one bath ranch on the Pebble Burrow lot in Oasis Springs.  I chose this location because it was the cheapest 30x20 empty lot at $1500.  That left $20500 of their starting cash to build and furnish a home. 

[BallerinaHippo]

Chapters

1. Light My Fire
2. Newlyweds and a Nooboo
3. Toddlers!
4. No Rest for the Weary
5. How many cakes do we need?
6. Just an Average Teen
7. Really, Grim?
8. Time to Party

[oshizu]

Yay! I'm excited to read about your Wonder Child and their family!

[Shewolf13]

Ooo, a Wonder Child challenge!  Can't wait to see how it goes ^^

[BallerinaHippo]

@oshizu and @Shewolf13 thanks so much for your enthusiasm!  It's very encouraging.   


Light My Fire

For the first few days, Jenna and Joe mostly work on skills.  I have them focus on those things which will be important for their careers as well as crucial skills like cooking and handiness.  Jenna joins the painter career and begins producing classical paintings right way.  All of her early works are sold to collectors because Jenna and Joe need the money right now.



While Jenna paints, Joe is busy on the computer.  He joins the Tech Guru career so he needs to practice programming and play video games (it’s a tough life). 



At the end of Day One, Jenna and Joe have had a few pleasant conversations, but nothing romantic has taken place yet.  It’s still too soon.  Therefore, Joe is a gentleman and offers Jenna the bed while he sleeps on the couch.  Jenna starts her job as a Palette Cleaner on Monday morning while Joe doesn’t start his job until Tuesday.




Day Two is pretty much a repeat of Day One with the exception of Jenna going to work.  The rest of the day is spent working on skills.  The two roommates have some friendly conversation, but still no romance.  Jenna sleeps in the bed again, and Joe returns to the couch.
 
On Day Three, both Joe and Jenna go to work, and both of them come home with promotions.  More importantly, both of them get a confident moodlet so now seems like a good time to try to get the romance started. 

As they eat their garden salads for dinner (I don’t trust either of them with a stove yet), Joe complements Jenna on her appearance and then follows that up with some flirting.  Jenna is receptive and suddenly they’ve each got a tiny bit of pink in their relationship bars.  Joe, feeling more confident than ever, promptly asks Jenna on a date.



They have their first “date” at home, and it goes extremely well.  After some flirting and deep conversations, Jenna asks Joe to be her boyfriend.  He accepts, and they have their first kiss.



By the end of the evening, Joe and Jenna like each other enough to share the same bed.  No more sleeping on the couch for Joe.



Over the next few days, Joe and Jenna are kept busy at work.  They each get two more promotions which brings in some nice bonus cash and career rewards.  With their bank account growing and their relationship blossoming, it’s starting to look like a Wonder Child might soon be on the way. 

Toward the end of the first week, Joe gets the whim to marry Jenna. (yay!)  While it’s not required for the Wonder Child’s parents to be married, I take Joe’s whim as a sign that he is ready to take things to the next level.  In celebration, I buy the couple a stove thinking that Joe can make a nice dinner for Jenna to set the mood for his proposal. 

This turns out to be a mistake.  Even though Joe has been whipping up excellent-quality fruit and garden salads for days, he still manages to start a fire the very first time he uses the brand-new stove.



I panic a bit because Joe is home alone, but somehow he manages to extinguish the fire.  The only casualty is the new stove.  After catching my breath, I send Joe to go take a bath while I replace the stove.  Unfortunately, it looks like there won’t be any proposals or trying for baby tonight because Joe has a strong tense moodlet that is set to last for 24 hours.  I save his whim to marry Jenna and resign myself to waiting another day.

Jenna does not witness any of this because she is at work. When she gets home, she does me proud by successfully cooking an excellent batch of mac and cheese on the new, new stove.  Jenna then paints a freezer bunny picture before going to bed.



The next day, two things happen almost simultaneously to move this Wonder Child Challenge forward significantly.  First, Jenna gets a whim to propose to Joe.  Right after that, a message pops up that the Romance Festival is in town.  This is too good to pass up, so I have Joe and Jenna change into their party clothes and send them off on a date to the festival. 

Jenna makes a beeline for the Romance Guru as soon as they arrive.  The guru tells her that her current relationship is
“a match made to last the ages.”  Yes!



Thanks Romance Guru!   That’s just what Jenna wanted to hear.  She gets down on one knee and proposes to Joe right then and there.  No need to wait for the Romance Guru to leave.  Joe is surprised, but he obviously accepts since he was already planning to propose to her.



Since they are at the Romance Festival, Joe and Jenna decide to get married on the spot.  Not that a wedding arch is necessary, but it adds a nice touch.

[oshizu]

How perfect that Jenna and Joe get engaged and married at the Romance Festival!
I laughed at Joe getting promoted from sleeping on the couch to sleeping in the bed. Way to go, Joe!

And I'm glad that Joe wasn't critically injured during that unexpected fire! o.O

[FrancescaFiori]

That romance guru! I'm so glad he was kind to Joe and Jenna. I feel like he never gives my sims any good news.
I'm really enjoying your story so far and I'm so glad you decided to share it here!
I really like your couple and they seem to be off to a great start Well, except for the stove thing. I'm sure things in that area can only get better.

[Shewolf13]

Aha!  Loved that Joe had to sleep on the couch hehehehe.  That was really cute.  Loved that they got engaged and married at the Romance Festival ^^

[commasplice]

This turns out to be a mistake.  Even though Joe has been whipping up excellent-quality fruit and garden salads for days, he still manages to start a fire the very first time he uses the brand-new stove.

HA! I thought I was the only one who was paranoid about fire and forcing my sims to eat non-cooking meals till they were at least at a competent level.

This looks like it's going to be a great story!

[HelenP]

Nice start, it's fun to see how others tackle a challenge.  I didn't document my wonderchild challenge but had a lot of pleasure from it.

[BallerinaHippo]

@oshizu  Yep, I didn't want to spend money on another bed so Joe had to take the couch for awhile.  When Joe started the fire, I thought for sure I was going to have to start all over, but somehow he put himself out. 

@FrancescaFiori I was all set to do damage control if the Romance Guru gave Jenna bad news, but he was actually kind.  Go figure!

@Shewolf13   Someone had to sleep on the couch  and Joe's a gentleman.

@commasplice Thanks for reading!  My current rule for all my Sims is "Thou shalt not use the stove until you achieve at least level 4 cooking skill...and 5 is better."

@HelenP  Thanks!  I love seeing how others approach things, too.  I wasn't necessarily planning on posting my wonderchild challenge, either, but thought it might be good back story for the next project.

I forgot to mention in the introduction that Joe's face probably looks familiar to most of you.  I realized before I even left CAS that he's on the front cover of the game:



I seriously considered choosing another random male Sim before starting, but then decided "what the heck, I'll keep him."  But I thought it was interesting that the randomize feature is maybe not so completely random after all.

[BallerinaHippo]

Joe and Jenna return home from the Romance Festival blissfully happy, but exhausted.  Fortunately, they both have the next day off from work.  After a brief nap, the newlyweds are ready to try for a baby.



Their first try is unsuccessful so they try, try again.  Soon Jenna has good news to share with Joe.



Jenna’s pregnancy seems to pass by in a blur of activity.  The parents-to-be are busy working, skilling, and getting the house ready for a baby. Of course, when you are busy, that’s when everything around the house decides to break so Joe and Jenna have been repairing a lot of toilets, showers, and sinks lately.  Joe tries to stay on top of things and has been upgrading the plumbing whenever he has the parts, but Jenna still has to help sometimes, too.



Even though they are busy, Joe and Jenna still try to make time for each other and appreciate the miracle growing inside Jenna.  Their child.  Their wonder child. 



In the blink of an eye, Jenna sails through her third trimester, and then it’s “go” time.  Joe responds to the news that his wife is in labor with the typical pre-parental panic.  Jenna, on the other hand, has her game face on.



Relax, Joe.  Jenna’s got this.

Even though Jenna could totally handle this labor and delivery all on her own, I decide to send the parents-to-be to the hospital for the birth.  They get a surprisingly competent looking doctor, but Joe is still panicking.  At least he’s with Jenna and not drinking coffee in the breakroom.



Soon enough, we have ourselves a baby boy!  Please help me welcome Liam Murray to the world.



Liam is a shortened version of William and means “unwavering savior” or “helmet of will” or “guardian” depending on the source.  This seems fitting since many Wonder Children become Apocalypse Founders (and this may, in fact, be Liam’s future).  But let’s not dwell on that now.  For the time being, let’s just take a moment to appreciate his cuteness.



Unfortunately, a moment is all we have to appreciate Liam’s nooboo cuteness.  The Wonder Child Challenge allows infants to be aged-up early and there is one major advantage to doing so.  It’s all about time.  Remember, the challenge begins with two adult Sims—not young adult—meaning that time is of the essence.  I probably should have pushed Jenna and Joe to get together and conceive Liam sooner, but it’s too late to second guess now.  At least we can skip the infant stage and move on to toddler skilling.

Jenna does the honors.  And look!  Liam inherited his mother’s red hair.



Liam’s toddler trait is Inquisitive.  He makes his parents proud by stacking blocks right away.



Of course, Joe and Jenna are always nearby to take care of the Wonder Child’s needs.  They start potty training right away.  Then after a little more play time, Joe gives Liam a bath before Jenna reads him a bedtime story.  By the end of Liam’s first full day as a toddler, he has a good start on all of his skills. 




Those with an eye for detail may notice in the picture of Jenna above, that she’s sporting a bit of a bump.  It’s true!  There is already a sibling on the way for the Wonder Child.  When did they find the time?

[oshizu]

Haha, I loved Jenna's game face when she went into labor! The lady means business!

Liam is simply adorable, taking after his mother with his darker skintone and red hair. He's gorgeous!
Thanks for sharing the shot of the TS4 cover. Joe seemed so familiar and yet I couldn't place why.

Woooo, another nooboo! Looking forward to seeing more of Liam (and his parents, of course).

[PeregrineTook]

Aww, how cute!!  I hadn't realized you'd started this.  They're a very sweet little family and I'm looking forward to seeing more of how the genetics play out as little Liam gets older  :=)

[MarianT]

Liam is a cutie. As for your starting Sim, I've noticed that new Sims seem to be the ones on the cover plus a couple more. Good luck to Joe and Jenna!