Eight Months Old

Oliver is eight months old and now we know why everybody says little ones are fun!

The house is filled with giggling and laughing each day as Oliver is finding his way into mischief!

Oliver is mobile...not quite crawling on hands and knees but super fast on the whole tummy crawling!

This has necessitated a quick child proofing of the house. Hmmm mum and dad can't open the chocolate cupboard quite so easily!

Also a quick rearranging of Oliver's bedroom which has turned out quite well.

Oliver is completely obsessed with the telephone - obviously arranging his social life which is very busy!

The other delightful development is his ability to quickly work out cause and effect. This toy snail took all of 2 minutes to work out - so an extra long ribbon was attached to prevent collisions with noses at high speed!

Enjoy!

Oliver's New Adventure

Just a quick blog to say thank you for all the good wishes for Oliver's settling in days with Yola....as expected Oliver is treating this as another opportunity to flirt!

Yola is besotted with him, she is completely wonderful and we fear he may never want to come home!

When Oliver arrived yesterday for his first morning it was as though a rockstar had arrived the three little girls (twins 4 years old and one 3 year old)chanted his name and then sat around him on the floor stroking and patting him....hmmmm tick adoration in abundance!

When we arrived four hours later to pick him up - well there was not a lot of excitement at Mum and Dad appearing shall we say. Today he shot-putted himself into Yola's arms and was very content when we returned a few hours later. He has settled in well and is very happy watching the other children. He seems quite comfortable with Yola and she absolutely adores him....there were no tears on either side.

Next week Mum goes back to work and Oliver will do his two regular days - although only six hours so not too bad. Will provide some photos of family day care next week when things are a little more relaxed.

Oliver is very lucky the same four children go on Monday and Tuesday and one of the little girls also goes to his playgroup on Thursday! They are a lovely group of children very gentle and loving! The little girls in particular are excited to have a baby and well Oliver is excited to be adored as usual! Yola also has too teenage daughters who think Oliver is wonderful....so really it is status quo without pesky mum and dad to dampen down the adoration!

Thanks so much for all the thoughts and prayers and socks as our little family starts this new adventure!

Lots of Love Oliver, Gabe and Anna Marie

A Day in the Life of Oliver....

Mornings in Mum and Dad's bed!

Breakfast - I promise some went in Mum!

Eating my maracca in music!

Chilling between appearances!

Oliver loves putting things on his head!

Practicing his crawling pose. Not long now!

Getting ready for afternoon reading time!

A pose for Uncle Brendan!

Vegemite toast for afternoon tea!

Our Angelic Genius!

When Oliver was Latte - we joked about ticking the boxes to acquire an angelic genius!

It appears our prayers were answered and we were gifted with an angelic genius*.
*conditions apply ( as Dad's advertisements would say!)

Oliver is indeed an angelic little boy...when we are outside the house! He smiles and giggles and flirts and is generally entertaining and delightful to be with. These skills are less enjoyable at 1am, 2am, 3am, 4am and 5am in the morning Oliver!

Oliver is indeed a genius and is very quick to learn certain new skills....he seems limited in his superior ability to learn when it is best to demonstrate those skills and when to lie quietly and go to sleep, lie quietly and not roll off the change table, sit quietly and eat, not lean over the side and pretend to be seasick off the boat!

Ah yes advanced for his age his imagination is already starting to emerge!

We should have been more specific in requesting an angelic genius - a little boy who does exactly what his parents wish for between midnight and well midnight!

When Oliver was in NICU we would say to each other when he gets home we will never complain about being awake all night and any other less desirable behaviour he might display we will be just so happy he is home. We thought about that the other day after a particularly special night! We lied!

Latte for Latte

Oliver has had his first babyccino!

Oliver and his Godmother (who better to instruct Oliver in the art of latte drinking!) and Mum and Dad enjoyed the sunshine and the coffee before swimming lessons.

Oliver seemed to enjoy the experience although to be honest he was more excited by sharing his drink with the puppy at the next table.

The Babyccino powered Oliver through his swimming lesson where an excited Dad reports he kicked - or at least moved one leg once!

The babyccino did nothing to improve Oliver's behaviour - Rory his instructor was treated to the hairy eye ball and ignore treatment to signify Oliver's disapproval of the floating skill he was being taught.

Hmmm positive reinforcement (bribery?) of behaviour we would like (expect?) is about to start!

Perth or Melbourne.......

It has been a long few weeks here in Newcastle....we had the final test for Pyloric Stenosis on Monday afternoon and got the all clear - which is fantastic - although we were pretty sure it was not the case about a week ago it is lovely to have all the boxes ticked.

Oliver treated his ultrasound as a further opportunity to hone his flirting skills - and there was the added bonus of a student sonographer. Oliver was in his element despite the poking and prodding.

Oliver has also started some medication for reflux and will now commence a series of tests and appointments to work out what is going on there. Nothing as scary though as the last few weeks.

Thanks Aunty Cath for all the information regardi

ng the charming reflux issue!

Over the weekend we had two days of drama and chaos which resulted in Oliver being threatened with the post pack to Granny....now is it cheaper to go to Melbourne or Perth! Luckily though Oliver decided to be less dramatic and chaotic and we packed the bag away in a safe spot for later!

Oliver is definitely heading towards being all grown up. A few nights ago we found him asleep on his tummy. This hopefully is the beginning of more settled sleep as recently amongst the teeth and the reflux pain has been the delightful rolling over and getting stuck milestone. Now he only gets distressed when he wakes to find he is face down in the cot.

Ha ha last little hurdle and then solid sleep here we come! If any rude person wants to share that solid sleep does not happen until Oliver moves out of home please feel free to go away!

Thank you for all the lovely thoughts, prayers and good wishes over the past few weeks....we send all those on to Oliver's cousin Lachlan who is getting his tonsils out tomorrow and cousin Ashley who starts school on Friday. Lots of love to both boys and their wonderful parents!

Tests, Teething and Sitting Up!

Oliver is such a trouper - amongst the week of tests, clinic appointments and specialist assessments, he has got his first two teeth and learnt to sit up by himself.

Oliver has been dribbling for sometime - and now his first tooth has emerged - and is quite sharp! His second tooth is not far behind. He has done well - we have only had one really horrible day where he was unsettled and crying - but otherwise he is his usual gorgeous self.

Oliver has also learnt to sit by himself. This makes a change from the frustration he is expressing because he has not quite worked out the crawling thing.

Oliver can sit unaided for about 5 minutes and play with his toys before forgetting to balance and falling over. On the other hand he is becoming so frustrated by his slow progress in the crawling stakes. He is completely obsessed by rolling over and trying to move forward, and refuses to stay on his back for anything other than his milk - and even then once the edge of hunger has been taken off he is off!

Less fun is the rolling whilst sleeping!

Oliver has completed another week of tests, clinic appointments and seeing his favourite paediatrician - Kurt! He has started at the feeding clinic (haha) and is seeing a speech pathologist for his swallowing difficulties. He has another week of more investigations next week and then he sees another paediatrician and then hopefully it will all be sorted! The good news is that he has stabilised his weight so has not lost any weight this week - yay.

Oliver is a happy and healthy little fellow despite his difficulties with eating - and as usual feels that all these appointments are really just for the extra adoration and flirting opportunities.

The other big news is that Little Aggie has returned home - twice in one day - of course today she has not presented - but still she is alive and knows that we are still here.

Learning to Eat!

Oliver has not inherited Mum's propensity to eat - and has lost too much weight which has prompted the GP to become worried and send us back to NICU for tests and more tests over the last week and this coming week.

An unpleasant sense of de je vu walking into NICUfor Oliver to be weighed!







The upside was that Granny and Grandpapa stayed in Newcastle for an extra few days to teach Oliver how to eat properly. It was absolutely fantastic to have granny around and she seems to have done the trick. Oliver has learnt to swallow properly and seems to have increased his milk and so far fingers crossed everything is working properly.

Oliver also has succeeded in twirling his grandparents around his little finger.....










This last photo is a glimpse of interactions to come...we can just see Oliver thinking "Can I get away with this - I think I might as I am quite adorable!"

Thanks so much Granny and Grandpapa we would never have managed the last week without you.

This week Oliver has some more blood tests, scans and a visit to the feeding clinic to make sure he is eating properly and nothing else scary is happening....we are sure everything is okay but a few prayers will not go astray!

Busy Week!

Since New Year - Oliver has been so busy...once back in Newcastle we have caught up with friends and had a few playdates.

Oliver has met his new friend Ruby who was born just after Christmas and played with his big friend Quinten. Quinten came over for fun in the sun and then the boys and dads had their first swimming class on Saturday. The beginning of Saturday morning activities!

Oliver seemed to enjoy his swimming although he seemed more interested in being towed up and down the pool by dad rather than kicking or crawling as Rory the lovely instructor was trying to get him to do!

He did not even cry with his first dunking but got tired pretty quickly and slept nicely for two hours! Maybe swimming every day!

The other big event was that Mum and Dad went out for the first time since Oliver was born together! We have had a few coffee's in the early days when Oliver was in hospital and a few quick dash outings to the grocery shop or drop offs when grandparents have been about - but going out for a whole evening - we were not sure we would even be awake!

We went to Endota for a blissful massage, Estabar for a strong coffee, the movies and then dinner! It was absolutely divine - we still remember how to talk to each other and not about Oliver (sorry Oliver) and we even made it to 9pm before the first yawn! There were no phone calls and no I wonder whether he is okay.

It was an early anniversary dinner - this year is fifteen years together!

The before and after photographs!

Of course Oliver had an equally fantastic night with Granny and Grandpapa and we do not want to know how spoilt he was!

A big thank you to Granny and Grandpapa for the babysitting and Megan for the lovely Christmas present.

Road Trip

Oliver's first road trip was to Canberra - with both grandmothers!

We set off from Newcastle with the first stop to pick up Granny in Sydney and then drive to Canberra to meet Grandma.

Of course in Sydney there was the chance to play with his newest bestest friend Imogen!

"I am just giving him a hug"

We took Oliver to The Portrait Gallery and the Masterpieces from Paris at the National Gallery. There was lots of time spent under the trees in the sculpture garden whilst the grown-ups wandered around.

There was always at least one grandmother available at all times to read and entertain

and of course Oliver was lapping up the undivided attention of four adults!

It was absolutely lovely for Oliver to spend time with his grandmothers - it is so special to see his little face light up with recognition when they appear!

It has been almost three months since his Grandma has seen him and five months since his granny has seen him. So he had many developmental milestones to show them....of course they correctly assessed him as being an angelic genius so they can visit again.

Thank you to both grandmothers for making the effort to spend time with Oliver and helping out to make the trip so wonderful.