The Dower Family

It has been a BIG week in the Dower household. Obviously the biggest deal around here was the footy grand final on Saturday. The three of us got decked out in all of our Cats regalia and nervously sat down to watch the game. Ollie got tuckered out from the stress of it all and had a nap for the second and third quarters but was up for the nail biting final quarter. Nick and I were both on the edge of our seats and trying not to sound like we had Tourette's. Fortunately Aunty Hayley helped to distract Ollie from the noise but in the end the sounds were those of victory and he didn't have to witness his parents sobbing!! Check out the pic of Ollie with us - he is totally eyeing off Nick's beer! We also shared the week with a visit from Grandpa Peter and a flying visit from Nanna Freddy and Poppy Mick - literally a flying visit as we went to see them for an hour at the airport on their way home from the Grand Final (lucky buggers). The pic of Mick shows Ollie doing his new f...

This week Ollie and I had a special visitor all the way from Cloncurry - our friend Jesse. Jesse came to play at Camp Ollie for a few hours while his mum had some very well deserved shopping time. Ollie and Jesse played lots of fun games like cups and Jesse was very helpful to me during the afternoon. Another exciting event this week was Nick and my third wedding anniversary. To celebrate we went to the lovely E'cco restaurant on Saturday night, thanks to Aunty Em who stayed over at our place to look after Ollie. Thankfully Ollie was on his best behaviour, as opposed to some of the other nights recently that have seen me popping into his room a number of times in the early hours of the morning. Ollie got to see his Aunty Em again the next day when we went over to the McNaughton/Dower home to celebrate Aunty Hayley's birthday and to catch up with Uncle Luke. Hayley cooked the wonderful family birthday tradition of Flat Meat (hard to describe but kind of like a thinner sc...

After having worn his special little helmet for 8 weeks, Ollie and I went for what we hoped would be our final appointment at the clinic. On the last occasion we had been told he would probably only wear it for another four weeks plus a further two weeks just at night. I was a little nervous that they might make him wear it for a bit longer, but after one look at where the helmet was starting to rub on his (increasingly chubbier) cheeks, it was declared that he was done. On our way to the car he held his helmet ever so proudly as he sat in his pram. I've included a pic of him holding it on the day that he got it taken off. He seems to be a bit fond of it and likes playing with it. At the moment it is being worn by one of his teddies! I'm struggling a little with him not having it on. I keep checking to see if his head has gotten flatter overnight and, more concerningly, he keeps falling back without realising that he hasn't got that extra layer of cushioning anymore. We hav...

Today was the day that Nick had, in his own words "been waiting his whole life for" - his first ever Father's Day. In the lead up to the day Nick had told Ollie and I repeatedly that all he wanted was a Dad's bag from Darrell Lea. Well we made sure he got one of those (1.5 kg of chocolate and liquorice) as well as a big print of Ollie's beautiful smiling face to hang on the wall of his new office (when he starts his new job next Monday - congratulations Nick). I also managed to get a book called "I love my dad" the same as the one we already have of "I love my mum" about the zebra-ish character called Ollie. And to top it all off, Ollie wore a special shirt we bought for the occasion that said "My dad is a super hero". We kept the day itself pretty quiet, just hanging around the house together and going for a walk to the local patisserie for coffee and yummy treats. Throughout the day Nick and Ollie had lots of cuddles and kisses...

Monday was Ollie's first swimming lesson and despite the unseasonably warm weather we have experienced lately, it was absolutely freezing when we woke up. Luckily the pool is heated to a toasty temperature and the walls keep the breeze out. Because he is such a wonderful Dad, Nick took half of the day off work so he could join us and document the occasion. Our swim class consisted of half of our mother's group so that was really fun. Ollie was the only boy along with Ruby, Olivia and Emma. You'd think that Ollie would want to put on a show of being a big macho man for the ladies but no, he was the one in the group who started sooking as soon as he got into the water. Thankfully this only lasted for five minutes before he started to enjoy himself. The lesson lasted half an hour and involved singing lots of songs, splashing and jumping around. He isn't likely to be trying out for the national team anytime soon but we hope that he gets more comfortable in the water and le...