Cool, I get nurses to flirt with again....

As we blogged earlier this week, Oliver needs to have an ear operation (grommets) and today's the day.  We were very fortunate to have his operation 'rushed forward' by our specialist - and forever thankful.

Of course, for Oliver, this means a day of flirting with medical staff male and female, young and old.

Above, you can see Oliver in the pre-op room. The Anaesthetist was superb, giving him a replica of the gas mask to play with, then getting him to have turns at breathing through it.

Soon after this photo, brave little O went through the doors, with mum. Forty minutes later, he emerged with mum, very groggy.  Waking up was very very sad - lots and lots of crying. (If you've 'been under' you'll know that a 15 month old isn't going to cope well)

But the amazing news is, later the same day, we could already see improvements in his hearing and balance. (!!!) Bottom line: If your little one is having recurring, serious ear infections, we totally recommend this procedure.

It's an absolute lifechanger!

Left one on left, and right one on right...

Oliver has been walking for a little while now - and today's the day...
Oliver's first pair of shoes!


We went to a few stores, and finally found some that fitted just right. You can see them above, waiting along with mummy & daddy's shoes...  for Ollie's next adventure!

Goodbye ear infections.......hello sleep!

After three months of continuous ear infections - Oliver is going to have a little bit of surgery on Wednesday to have grommets popped in ...

As always Oliver despite the ear infections and the antibiotics and the continuing pain (anyone had an ear infection recently?) has been pretty delightful and has been up to all sorts of mischief with his little friends - enjoy the selection of photos - and feel free to say a prayer for Oliver for a smooth run on Wednesday!

 Re-organising the Cupboard....again!

 I am being gentle!

 See Ruby you put stuff in here.....

 Mummy left the tissue box.........wheeeeeee

 Twas Aggie Mummy - I was just sitting here like this!

 Megan and adoration and my first hair cut!

Ruby, William and Me.....in the park 

 Quinten and Me...in the car

 Me....at home

 Me....at the beach on my bike

 Me & my cars at coffee

 Me...and my best friend - Aggie

Me and my other best friend - Teddy

"Old Mr Oakvale had a farm..."

Oliver has a nice group of friends now, and along with them, some lovely mums and dads that we've got to know. Most of the time (ie during the week) it's Annemarie who gets to see them, but early today it was a 'Dads day' event for Gabe.

He went with Oliver, O's friend Quintin, and his dad Boris to Oakvale Farm - a Hunter Valley attraction packed with cute animals.

The first area is a large open shed, where we all (30 or so family groups) gathered with our little ones. We were all handed milk bottles, then...  without warning...  they open gates and we're swarmed by lambs and kids (as in baby goats).

A few of the (human) kids understandably freak out - you'd think a tourist attraction that's been doing this thing for years would know better. But alas - common sense is not common.  Anyway, we emptied our milk bottles and moved on to larger animals.

(It's very cute, ever since the photo below was taken, whenever Oliver sees a cow in a picture book, he insists on patting it.)

Some of the other highlights of the trip included feeding food pellets to kangaroos, seeing joeys up close, and riding on a scenic tractor/train.  Oh, and patting the koalas of course!

If anything, at 15 months Ollie was a bit young for Oakvale farm.  18 months + is probably more appropriate. And as you'll see in later posts, he's found more koalas, closer to home....