Oliver & Ace's playdate

Grandma & Grandpa Royal were in town this weekend and they brought Oliver's cousin Ace to our house to play for the day on Saturday. First, we went to the park where Oliver & Ace had fun playing on the swings and on the playground; Ace was a pro at climbing the rock wall. Next, Oliver got to show Ace all of his toys; the boys really enjoyed this. We learned that Oliver is a natural at sharing his toys, which was a pleasant surprise. We had to remind him a few times that they were still his, but that it was okay to let someone else play with them while he wasn't. Next, we had some lunch & then it was off for a nap. The nap time started out really rocky for both boys, but ended with Oliver finally asleep in his crib and Ace asleep on Grandpa.

When Aunt Tricia came over to pick up Ace we were able to have him open his birthday presents from us a couple weeks early. The family is actually celebrating his birthday on Sunday at the railroad, but we will have to miss the cake and presents, so we gave him his gifts a day early. Oliver got a couple of gifts too: a cool shirt that lights up when he moves, a recorder, a train whistle for the train ride tomorrow and his first train: "Oliver" from the Thomas the Train collection.

Clayton & I both agree that Oliver loved having everyone over today; he really is becoming quite the social little boy! We are so proud of him!

Oliver loves playing with stacking cups

Oliver received these stacking cups in his stocking last Christmas. This was $12 well spent as they have lasted the test of time. The cups are one of the few toys Oliver still loves to play with even 8 months later. Now that he is taller, he is able to stack the highest ones on top and he is so proud of himself. Stacking is fun, but not as fun as knocking them over!

Happy Birthday to Mommy!

Clayton made a quick run to Braum's this evening to pick up some yummy Chocolate Almond ice cream and ice cream cones. Here are a few pictures of us eating our delicious desert.

Our trip to the Dallas World Aquarium/Rainforest

To celebrate my birthday, we decided to go to the Dallas World Aquarium/Rainforest. After a little fancy navigating to get there, we had a great time. It was so nice to be out of the heat, and we found out as we were leaving that morning was the perfect time to visit. It was so fun to have Aunt Tricia & Cousin Ace join us today. Thanks for a great birthday guys!

First we strolled our way through a lush rainforest complete with a waterfall, birds, monkeys, turtles, crocodiles, otters, and even a snoozing sloth.




Next, we went down a level to the aquarium. The tank had enormous turtles, manatees, catfish, and other gigantic sea creatures I had never seen before. It was like being right beside them in the water. Oliver & Ace loved it!




On next to the shark tunnel where huge sharks swim right beside you. It was an awesome sight.

While there, we were able to view the Mayan Performers in a ritual celebration highlighting the butterfly's symbolic role of elemental balance in Mayan culture. The ritual was very entertaining for all of us.

Last we stopped at the souvenir shop and Oliver picked out this stuffed turtle to take home.

Oliver's new swimming pool

Oliver has really enjoyed playing with water lately, so this weekend we purchased a small swimming pool for him. It was too hot and sunny to use it in the backyard, so instead we put down a piece of canvas, brought out a fan, and let him use it in the garage this morning. He loved it! He had so much fun sinking his plane and trucks, in fact he placed one of his trucks under the side of the pool and told me it was hiding. So cute! Oliver would have enjoyed playing in the pool for the entire day, but unfortunately, lunch and nap time are a necessity.

Oliver's early birthday wish

It's my birthday on Monday and today after Oliver ate lunch he was saying what sounded like "happy" for the first time. When I asked him if he was happy, he said yes. Well, it turned out to be my very first birthday wish from my baby!

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Oliver's Creations

Today we tried a Gymboree Art class for the first time and Oliver had so much fun. We started out by playing with play dough. This was Oliver's first experience with Play dough and I think he liked it. We had rolling pins, pizza cutters, and cookie cutters in various shapes. Oliver really enjoyed cutting the play dough with his pizza cutter and had so much fun cutting out shapes of a bunny, a dinosaur and a duck. Today's theme was fish. Our next activity was painting and Oliver learned to say the word paint. He painted the prettiest little fish I have ever seen with blue, green and purple paint and then he added sequins for sparkle. Next it was snack time and we had gold fish crackers and water while Ms. Holly read us a story about Nemo and Dori. After that, we had a tactile activity where Oliver was able to play with an assortment of toy fish in water with bubbles, all the kids loved this. And finally, Oliver glued a picture of a fish on a big blue piece of paper (water) and Oliver was able to use markers for the first time to color the fish and he finished it off with some awesome stickers. Great work Oliver! Mommy and Daddy love your creations and we will treasure them forever!

Oliver can put himself to sleep. Hooray!

Now many of you already know that we have been actively helping Oliver fall asleep since he was born, and by helping I mean nursing to sleep (until 14 months), then rocking to sleep, and finally rubbing his back to sleep while he was in his crib until recently. Since about 10 months, he has slept through the nights most nights and has taken good naps, so we were okay with this slow progression. However, one night about three weeks ago, Oliver decided it was time to put himself to sleep. So after a couple of nights of crying for a few minutes, and a couple more nights of being up until about 9:30 or 10:00pm trying to put himself to sleep he has finally got the hang of it. For the last few nights we go through our routine and then leave the room, and it has only taken about 2o or 25 minutes for him to fall asleep.

Well today, I decided that it was time for him to try to put himself to sleep for a nap. I left the room and on the baby monitor I could here him talking to his bunny (his lovey) for a few minutes, and then he was out for 3 hours and 20 minutes. Perhaps it would have been longer, but I woke him up at 4:20 for fear he wouldn't go to sleep that night. I was able to snap these sweet pictures of him before I woke him up. We are so very proud of our big boy! Sleep Oliver, sleep!

Oliver invents a new way to ride a tricycle

Oliver may still be too small for his tricycle, but that doesn't prevent him from coming up with ways to ride it. This morning, Oliver sat on the back step, turned the handles around, and pushed it with his two feet. He could go forward and backward. I thought it was so cute! Here is a short video clip of him riding his tricycle.

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Oliver moves up a level at Gymboree

Oliver has been attending classes at Gymboree Play & Music for 6 months now, today he advanced a level and is now with the 22-28 month old children. At this level, the focus is on imaginative play and the class has more structure instead of play time. Today we made pizza. Before we started, his leader, Ms. Julia brought out pictures of people making pizza and pictures of pepperoni pizza and asked who knew what it was. Little Oliver was the first to say peet-zaaa; I was so proud! He had so much fun pretending to make pizza, with yummy toppings. I think we will love Gymoree Level 5 just as much as we have loved levels 3 and 4.

Last night Oliver wanted to try on Daddy's shirt. He looked so little in this huge shirt!

This afternoon Oliver had a party for his stuffed animals. Oliver picked out a special food for each one of his friends. Oliver had a tomato, and Mommy got pasta. Yummy!