The Dower Family

Last week we had a picnic in the park with a bunch of friends to take advantage of the lovely weather. Everyone had a great time (even if we didn't end up playing cricket) and it was a fun to show off how much Ollie has grown. But the absolute highlight for the O-bear was sharing a Mr Whippy ice-cream with me. He loved it SO much and with each mouthful he tensed his arms and legs up with excitement and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. Plus he managed to get it all over his face. Too cute. Another fun activity was a visit to our friend Rachel and Christian's house to talk about our trip to Bali next year. While the company was great, the weather was super hot, so I did what any mum would do and comandeered the galvanised bucket for drinks and turned it into a nice splash pool for Ollie. He had a lovely time (actually two lovely times) and made a nice big mess all over the deck. I didn't complain at getting covered in water as it did a nice job of cooling me down too a

Sorry for the delay in posting this. We have been experiencing some blogger related tech issues. Last week was Ollie and my big trip to Cloncurry to visit Nanna Freddy and Poppy Mick. Last post I mentioned that I was nervous about the flight. Well I really shouldn't have been as Ollie is a brilliant flier. On both trips he fell asleep on take off and stayed sprawled out across my lap until halfway through my meal. I think the key is lots of toys in his backpack on high rotation. But it also helps that he is a real stickybeak at the moment, checking out all the other passengers and waving to the hosties. Our time up in Cloncurry was lovely (but VERY hot) with nanna and poppy as well as Ollie's three little "uncles" - our little friends up there who have worked out that Ollie is their nephew. They were very generous and shared lots of their big boy toys with Ollie which he thought was awesome. Check him out on their little trike. I think he has a streak of Evil Knevil g

This week has been filled with lots of enjoyable learning experiences. Our Mothers's group this week took place at the local library where we joined a large group of other mums and their bubs and enjoyed a range of nursery rhymes and other songs. O Bear thoroughly enjoyed clapping along with the tamborine (as clapping has come back into vogue in a big way this week) and afterwards we all found a quiet corner and had a mummy chit chat for an hour or so while the babies clambered around (it wasn't quiet for long - poor library patrons!). Another fun task this week was when Ollie and I played with cornflour paste. If you haven't tried this I strongly suggest you get yourself a box of cornflour and some water and take a crack at it yourself. It is the weirdest sensation, one minute it is firm and the next it is squishy (I'm sure there is an important physics lesson there but right now it is just lots of fun). I took all the proper precautions - old clothes, (new) kitty lit

To celebrate Melbourne Cup last week, Ollie and I went along to a function with a group of ladies from the neighbourhood. It was good fun but after a few hours of holding the giant baby on my him (while wearing heels) and having him yanking at my hair and fascinator, we decided enough was enough and came home just before the race took place. We listened to it in the car (as we dropped another lady and her baby home) and found out that I came third in the sweeps. But the real celebration took place later than afternoon. Ollie was playing on the deck on his hands and knees when it occurred to me that he was actually propelling himself forward. Finally he was crawling!!!! Luckily for us Nick had just bought us a new camera that takes great video - but I can't figure out yet how to upload them so you'll all just have to wait a bit longer to see him in action. But check out the pic of him crawling in the meantime. This weekend we were lucky enough to have Grandpa Chris and Kaye come

What a week it has been. There have been three significant big boy milestones. The first two involve the evolution of some of Ollie's baby items. We finally turned his car seat to face the front, which he just loved. He spent the entire first drive just giggling at everything that he could now see. I think his favourite thing (as well as mine) is that he can now see me when I am driving. The second milestone was that we lowered the level on his cot. This came about after I found him sitting up in his cot the other morning. He hasn't yet pulled himself up on the bars but you can see that it won't be long until I go in and find him standing up in his cot waiting for me in the morning (probably chewing the rail). The third event is HUGE! After almost ten months of limited mobility, Ollie finally figured out forward propulsion. We were playing with a ball when he suddenly started using his arms to drag himself forward. Since then he has been getting around the house with a mode