More Fun at Camp!

It's Day #3 out at Yamhill and we're still having a great time!

View of the Mill Pond.



Oliver and I have fun watching the events.



David facilitates the "Staple Climb" element.



Lyss and Jere are rockin' the climbing gear!



Alyssa starts her climb.



She made it to the top (101 feet up!)



Jeremiah starts his climb.



Alyssa on her way down and Jere on his way up.



Jere at the top of the climb.



I actually made this climb last year, but I am perfectly content to stay on the ground with Oli this time. He makes a nice excuse for getting out of doing scary stuff!

Challenge Camp!

The Rudes are out at Yamhill this week for Challenge Camp and having a grand old time. This is our second year with this camp (in the past we helped with jr/sr teen) and we've really enjoyed it. Jeremiah joined us this year as a counselor and we talked Alyssa into coming as a camper. The weather couldn't be better - in the 80's and sunny! Here are a couple of pics from the "Flying Squirrel" ropes course element this morning.

Jeremiah gets ready to fly.



He takes a mighty leap off the riverbank.



Alyssa is a tiny speck in the sky.



Oops, she lost a shoe in the river! (It was safely retrieved downstream by Jere.)



Oliver is the youngest "camper" out here this year and he's doing really well.



Doesn't he look excited to try out the zip line?

At Least We Weren't Going Somewhere!

Yesterday started out a bit challenging... As I was feeding Oliver in the morning, he started messing his diaper and I could tell it was a lot. In a few minutes when I went to change him, I realized that his diaper had not successfully contained everything. Somehow he managed to spill out both the leg-holes and up his back! I took my time cleaning him up and getting him dressed for the day. We were having a happy and fun time together, and I put him in a cute new outfit. When he was all fresh and ready, I scooped him up and was walking to get some toys. Suddenly, he started gagging and preceded to throw-up all his breakfast! I tried to react quickly, but we managed to get it all over his little body, down my front, on the rug, and made a big puddle on the hardwood floor! Let's just say I had to start the clean-up process all over again, and I was thankful that we were not in hurry to go somewhere! Messy little boy!

Although I give him sponge baths most often, he is enjoying his tub more and more!




He's just past 2 months old and already able to dirty things up quite well. I'm guessing there will be use of lots of baby soap and OxyClean in my future!

2 Month Appointment

Oliver had his 2 month doctor appointment yesterday and all is well with him. He is up to 12 lbs 1 oz now and measuring just under 23 inches. This puts him right around the 50th percentile - he's basically an average dude now. Hooray! This is much better than being down at the 5th percentile for weight as he was for those early couple of weeks.

The only bad thing about this visit was the vaccines. First he had a nasty tasting oral Rotavirus immunization which he hesitantly swallowed. Little did he know that the worst was yet to come - he still needed 3 stabs in the legs! I'm so glad David came with us because he was the brave one to hold Oliver's arms down on the table while the nurse administered the torture. After the first poke Oli let out a big yell and then held his breath for a long time. The nurse had to wait for him to inhale again before she continued with the shots, and Oli cried the whole time. I couldn't watch this whole process but I heard what was happening and had to really fight to keep from crying. I kept telling myself, "This is better than risking the chance of him getting very sick."

Well we all survived the vaccination ordeal and little Oli slept for 3 hours afterward. When he woke up he was ready for his dose of Tylenol. The poor boy had the saddest little cry going on - complete with an overturned and quivering lower lip. After the meds kicked in, he was drowsy for most of the day so we cuddled and napped together through the afternoon. We just did one more dose in the evening when he got a bit fussy again and now this morning he seems to be just fine. Phew, we made it through another one of the challenges of infant life!

Here are a few pics of our growing boy:














We haven't yet told him that we'll have to make a similar visit to the doc in just 2 months. It's better to not worry him. =)

My Boys

Oliver and his dad got to spend some quality time together last night. I made plans to meet up with an old friend for dinner downtown and David said he could stay home with the little guy. I had 3 hours of girl time (which was SO fun) and my men did just fine without me!


David packs Oli to the back yard to play fetch with the dog.





David is working hard to make Oli's first word "da-da."



I guess it's not so bad being outnumbered by the males in this house since they all get along so well!

Gym Workout

I try to let Oliver have some time with his floor gym each day to work his little muscles and interact with the toys. He's working on controlling his limbs (they mostly just flail about) and he still loves to "talk" to his reflection. Here's another video clip I took of him playing.

Happy 2 Months!

Oliver's 2 month birthday was on the 20th and I can't believe he's that old already! On the other hand, it's crazy to think that he's only been in our family for that short amount of time (not counting when he was in the womb since we didn't really know him yet.) I can't even remember what our life was like before he arrived, though I imagine we used to get a bit more sleep in those days!








Oli's 2 month doctor appointment got rescheduled to later this week and I'm curious to know how big he is now. He's started to outgrow a lot of his newborn clothes and is getting a bit long for the 0-3 month size too. He will have to receive some shots at this visit and David said he could take him for that part. I'm thankful for that because I can hardly handle my own injections. I think I'd be a mess trying to help Oliver get through the torture!

Workin' With Dad

I had a meeting last week that I needed to attend sans baby so I dropped Oliver off at the church to hang out with David for a little bit. Oli "helped" his dad by jabbering with him, messing his diaper, and then falling asleep on the secretary's desk. You can see David here working on his computer and his son is in the "burrito wrap" next to him.




Oliver makes quite the adorable paperweight!

My New Friend, 3 AM

Yep, as the title of this post suggests, I am finding myself more and more acquainted with the wee hours of morning. It's a little after 3:00 am currently, and I am feeding Oliver again. I fed him last at midnight after he had been fussing for about an hour on and off. I laid him back in his bed asleep at 12:45 am after he ate, but he kept waking up crying every 20 minutes or so. Maybe after this meal he'll actually be ready for some rest. I was getting used to having chunks of sleep ranging from 3-4 hours at a time, and I hope Oli is not going to lose that routine!

Doesn't he know that we'll all be a lot happier if he does less crying and more of this?:



He really does look peaceful and content in this pic from earlier in the day yesterday - sounds nice right about now!

Oliver Talks To Himself

We recently introduced Oliver to his floor gym (thanks Ron, Toni, Jeremy, and Mandi!) and he seems to really enjoy it - at least for short periods of time. I started taking a video clip of him on it waving his arms around and kicking his legs, and then noticed that he started to smile and talk. He was interacting with his own reflection in the little mirror above his head!



Oli was probably thinking, "Who is that handsome boy looking down at me?" ;)

More Happy Faces

Look out ladies - that dimple is practically irresistible!

Many Expressions

I just thought I would share some pictures of Oliver that I took during playtime the other day...

Taking Time to Smell the Roses

On Sunday afternoon we joined a few of our friends at the Rose Garden for a delightful picnic. The sky was overcast but it wasn't too chilly and we had a good time eating, chatting, and exploring the gardens.


David hauls some of our gear (and Oliver) down to the picnic site.



Sandwich construction begins.




Mmmm...smells delish!



David packs Oliver around.



A view of the gardens.



One of my favorite roses.



Me and the girls.



Oliver is exhausted after exploring the grounds.




We actually didn't have enough time to see all the roses because we had to get home to bake brownies for our Life Group meeting. We definitely need to get back while everything is still in bloom!

Chatting with Oliver

When Oliver is in a happy mood (say after after filling up on his favorite meal - milk) he can be quite the conversationalist. We're never quite sure exactly what he means, but he sure has a lot to say! Note: please ignore the lady with the high-pitched "baby voice" in this clip, she didn't realize how silly she sounds!

Oliver and Family - 6 Week Pics

Our dear friend Jamie volunteered her photography skills for us once again, but this time there were 3 subjects to pose instead of just 2 (and that 3rd tiny "subject" made things a bit more challenging!) We're glad that it was such a warm day because we made sweet Oliver pose sans clothing and diaper for some of the pics. He was a really good sport and stayed awake for much of the photo shoot. When he was finally too worn-out to keep his eyes open, we took some sleeping pictures - it worked out great! Here are some of our favorites... Enjoy!
























...and for those who are wondering, no, he did not pee on us or any of the blankets while he was naked! Surprising, huh?!