To SLC by car

So Saturday morning we began the very long trek from DFW to SLC. We opted to take the more scenic route, travelling through New Mexico, a bit of Southwestern Colorado and Southern Utah as opposed to the faster route through Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming and Northern Utah as claimed by Google. From reading my blog, surely you must know that Oliver is not, let me repeat NOT, a car sleeper. We had high hopes that the long drive would be tiring enough that he would drift right off, but it didn't work. Luckily, Oliver was very entertained by the trucks, tractors, cars and transportation vehicle galore. Daddy purchased a new Disney Cars car for Oliver at the first truck stop and Oliver played with it almost the entire ride there. Mommy & Daddy took turns sitting in the back with Oliver and provided entertainment so we didn't really need the portable DVD player; he didn't even watch one entire movie. Surprisingly, he made it the entire trip without one meltdown. Sure, there was a little whining as he became really tired towards the end of both days, but no tears so we couldn't have been more thrilled.

We hoped to travel to Gallup, NM our first night, but only made it to Albuquerque instead. We stayed at a little hotel I used Google to find with good reviews and even though it was old, it was clean and suited us just fine. Another big surprise was that Oliver gave us absolutely no guff about the sleeping situation. He laid down beside me in our queen bed and Daddy in his and went fast asleep. He woke once during the night with a start, but was easily settled down and went back to sleep. At 6:00 am, as soon as the first ray of sun shined through the curtains, a sleeping Daddy and Mommy awoke to the cutest words ever: "the sun is shining, it's morning!" How could we resist that??? So Daddy and Oliver played a little while Mommy got ready and then we were off for our second days drive. We made it to Sandy around 8:45pm on Sunday. Oliver was incredibly excited to see his grandparents and played with them outside while I got his things unpacked and the room he would be staying in settled.

Here are some pictures from our drive:

Oliver was our navigator

We saw lots of dry mountains and bushes

There were lots of cheesy grins

lots of playing with cars

lots of trains

and lots of seat belt wearing, even Oliver's cars had to stay safe! :)

We are very proud of Oliver and how he did on this trip. The drive is LONG, but all in all my verdict is that it is not too bad and we will probably do it again.

Apparently I am Aunt Shell today...

Oliver started out the day by referring to me as Aunt Shell (my sister). His imagination is in full force lately and here is a video of him talking me through it. I kept the entire thing because I love his laugh after he speaks gibberish! :)

Oliver had his two and one-half year appointment today. All is well. He is tall (37.5 inches -- 90th%), has a large head (50.5 cm 90th%) and skinny (26.6 lbs 25th%), but we already knew that. The doctor was really impressed with his vocabulary and his ability to speak in full sentences, instead of 2-3 word sentences. I must confess that I was a tiny bit worried that the baby signing may have delayed him since he didn't really start speaking any great number of words until he was 21 months; now any inkling of worry that I may have had is gone. I will definitely be using baby signs with baby number two whenever it is that he or she decides to come along.

Construction Work

Oliver loves, loves, loves all types of transportation vehicles. Lately, he has really enjoyed building tollways (freeways for all intensive purposes). Today he built his tollway on his car table and told me it was under construction. Check out the tractors and trucks all working on the blocks. Pretty cute!

Close-up with his "tollway worker truck", that is the name of this one

I loved this action shot of him licking the frozen yogurt bar I made...despite despising most cold things, he actually liked it!

My unofficial Mother's Day

Sunday was not my day (no fault of Oliver or Clayton), so I am pretending that Saturday was Mother's Day. It was perfect. We started our day by going to the trail where Clayton ran, Oliver rode in the stroller and I skated. Afterward, we played at the park and then grabbed some lunch at Sonic before coming home. Oliver had a nice nap and then we went out for dinner at La Hacienda Ranch after he woke up. They had some out of control coin operated horses outside for riding that Oliver loved, but had I known they were so wild, he would not have ridden them. It was a great day but without pictures. So here are some we took of Oliver on Sunday (the day after Mother's Day), right before we got ready for bed.

He is still my same baby!

As Oliver grows older, it seems to be more and more difficult to see the baby he was inside the big boy his is becoming. Until I see this:

These pictures were taken almost exactly two years apart at seven months and at 30 months, but he looks almost exactly the same...even the same position. I love this little guy so much!

too much hair = much too hot

So, where there was hair before...

...there is no more (or at least much less). Thanks Aunt Tricia!

What's up your sleeve Oliver?

I was able to capture one of those unplanned, hilarious moments, when my little guy took one of my expressions literally this evening. But before you see it, here is the story leading up to it.

First, sleep does not come easily for Oliver. As he gets older, he gets stronger and is able to resist sleep even more. Lately, we have added laps around our house to our nightly routine. We run around the entire house five times yelling and giggling trying to get all of his excess energy out. Near the end of our laps tonight, without thinking, I jumped up on an ottoman and jumped off. Oliver has always had a healthy fear of heights. Translation: he would do anything with Mommy or Daddy's help, but was nervous to do things on his own. I was so surprised when he jumped up and tried it too. His jump really made me nervous; it's this one legged jump and I am afraid he is going to break something. So I got something to break his fall and let him practice a few times. I grabbed the camera to document the moment.

This video was supposed to be about Oliver losing his healthy fear of heights, but it turned into something much funnier. Okay, watch the video, trust me...it's funny!

Happy Cinco de Mayo Birthday Gramps!

Oliver thought that Gramps should have a cake with candle and fire on top for his birthday. So, even though my Dad is 1400 miles away, we made the cake (really they were the Sneaky Chef brownies) and a candle too. Gramps was on the phone while Oliver sang to him. And now, he gets to see it too. Here you go Gramps, happy Cinco de Mayo birthday to you! We love you!

After some prodding, Oliver sang the ABC's for Gramps. This was a much different version than we usually get. Normally it is with a big deep voice like he is using at the beginning. I think he was just rushing through it because he wanted the brownie! :)

This wink is for you Gramps!

The Kentucky Derby...Texas style

Oliver watched the Kentucky Derby race today and he decided that he wanted to try out jockeying too.

Here is our own personal Jockey riding the leather chair horses.

check out this video of our fierce little jockey

King size crib...

...but Oliver prefers his twin size sleep area.

Oliver always wants to sleep in his "corner" as he calls it. His legs hang out and it looks really uncomfortable to me, but this is how he likes it! :)

A Blustery Day

Today was such a blustery day, it was perfect for kite flying. We took our kites out to an open field and didn't have much struggle getting them into the air.

Daddy & Oliver getting the kite ready

Oliver flying the kite

one of our kites in the air

At one point in the flying, the winds were so strong that the kite actually pulled Oliver along a little bit like they did Pooh while he was flying Piglet on their blustery day. He eventually lost hold of the handle and off the kite went and off I went chasing after it. Clayton certainly would have been better at catching it than I was, but he was holding the other kite already. I did eventually catch up with the kite up the road and was able to bring it back, but Oliver was finished after that.

I liked this picture of Clayton bringing back the kites

On our way back, we stopped to play at the park. We played on the playground and Oliver swung on the swings and before we came home, Oliver got to do one of his new favorite past times: chasing birds. I like this one because it really uses up his excess energy. :)

O K L A H O M A

Saturday we took a day trip to Oklahoma to see Clayton's parents. They tore down the house Clayton grew up in and they are building a new house in its place. We were excited to see them and see the progress of the house. Unfortunately, Oliver is still not over all of his sicknesses and had a difficult night on Friday night without much sleep and so that made the drive a little less comfortable for him. He is NOT a car sleeper, so he didn't take his nap; but all things considered, we were very proud of how well he did. It was great to spend some time with Clayton's parents. Oliver loves them so much. Here are some pictures of our day.

I loved this picture of Oliver & Grandpa walking to the house for the first time

It's almost done; just a few weeks away! My in-laws are so excited and so are we for them. It is so nice and they deserve it!

from the back

Oliver was the first thing in Grandma's new kitchen cabinets

Grandpa & Grandma have an RV in their driveway to store some of their things in while their house is built. Oliver was so excited when we turned into the driveway and saw the RV.

Grandpa let Oliver drive the RV; doesn't he look happy? :)

Grandma & Oliver filling a pail with water to water some plants

watering the plants

Oliver & Grandma

It was almost like another birthday for Oliver. He came home with a new tractor, a dolphin stuffed animal, a new book, and a small car for his car table. He was so happy. Thanks for all the gifts Grandma & Grandpa!

Those are some big shoes to fill, Oliver

And you do it so well!

Bubbles

Oliver loves blowing bubbles, however today may be a little too windy to enjoy the bubbles

Hey, maybe playing in the bubbles will be just as fun

Yep, making messes is just as fun as blowing bubbles!

Would you call this nosey?

This is where I find Oliver almost every time our windows are open. The sounds from outside are just too intriguing to keep him interested in anything inside. He loves to look for birds, people, bunnies, or squirrels. But his favorite thing to watch are lawn crews. Here he is checking out some men working on a lawn down the street. Our neighbors must think we are nosey, they have caught us watching whats going on a few times. I just think we are curious! :)

Oliver Clayton Royal is two and one half years old!

So this Friday our little Oliver celebrated his two and one half year old birthday. He woke up with an upset tummy but seemed to be feeling fine after a short while and downed his waffle and apple juice without question. A local movie theatre was showing a special Disney Matinee of the movie Cars, which just so happens to be Oliver's favorite movie. Since Oliver seemed to be feeling better, we went to the movie. Daddy met us there and we all enjoyed our popcorn while watching the movie. Afterward, Oliver and I headed to the store to get some provisions for his two and one half year old birthday dinner. We purchased some corn on the cob and some pumpkin pie, both his favorites. Upon our arrival at our house, Oliver seemed to be very hot and listless. I thought maybe I just had him dressed too warm and took off some clothes and prepared lunch. Oliver didn't want to eat anything except the cookie we had purchased at the grocery store. I told him he needed to eat some grapes and some crackers before he could have the cookie so he forced himself to eat and then gave me "the look". I instantly knew everything would be coming up and sure enough it did. My sweet little guy always tells me sorry whenever he vomits. I don't know where he got the idea he needs to apologize for vomiting, but it always makes me feel even more sad whenever he does. After I got him settled down and cleaned up, the thermometer told me he had a temperature of 103. Poor baby! I gave him some Children's Motrin (works better for him than Tylenol) and put him down for a nap. He felt a lot better after sleeping and I even got some pictures.

Oliver's silly pictures

Some of my favorites

My favorite Oliver Clayton Royal is thirty months old pose!

I feel really bad I took him out not feeling well and exposed the people in the movie theatre to whatever he had. Luckily the theatre wasn't very full and we didn't sit directly by anyone. The pumpkin pie had to wait until Sunday, but it was just as sweet. Happy two and one half Oliver!

blowing out his two and one half candles