The Bayres: 22 months

We have been enjoying summer and spending as much time as possible outside. This month I started my third trimester and have been thinking about the changes the new baby will bring. We are trying to savor every moment of being a family of 3 before the baby arrives this fall.

Oliver continues to be sweet, smart, and funny. He's talking up a storm and says new words and phrases all the time. He has gotten really into vehicles and one of his favorites is going outside to watch the garbage or recycling trucks. He has moments of frustration (as do we), but overall he's so much fun! More pictures and some fun things we did this month to follow.

Bike rides! This month we got a bike seat for Oliver and have been going on bike rides at least once a week. At first Oliver didn't like wearing his helmet, but he loves riding in the bike so much now that he doesn't even mind the helmet anymore. We started a Sunday evening tradition of riding to the park and then to our favorite pizza place.

Celebrated Chris' birthday: We spent the day on July 3 celebrating Chris. We took a bike ride to Kopplin's Coffee, a coffee shop Chris has been wanting to try for awhile and has been voted the best coffee in the Twin Cities. It was a beautiful morning and we sat outside and shared a pastry and had some coffee. Then we biked to Grand Central Deli for lunch, another new place for us, which we loved. For dinner we drove to Anchor in Minneapolis for some fish and chips. All around a great day.

Swimming pool: Chris picked up a few extra shifts at work this month so one day my friend Paige and I took Oli to the Como Pool. Oli loved wading and kicking in the water, the little water slide, and floating on the raft that looked like an 8 (his obsession with numbers continues). We had a blast! Didn't take any pictures though - next time!
Zoo & picnic with friends: We went to the zoo with our friends Katie and Conrado and then had a picnic dinner in a nearby park. It was pretty warm that day, but Oli had fun seeing the flamingos, monkeys, zebras, giraffes, lions and tiger.

Books, books and more books. Oliver still loves books. We've been going to the library about once a week to get some new ones. Recently we started giving him one at night too when we leave his room and it's been so cute to watch and listen to him reading it on the monitor.

Frozen yogurt

Parks and playing outside

Family reunion in Missouri. We drove to Kansas City and stayed with James and family for a few days and then on to Branson, MO where we saw more of Chris' family. Oliver had fun playing with his cousins Molly and Matilda. He also got to meet his great grandma Lorraine and great grandpa Graydon for the first time. He was a little overwhelmed by so many new people but did well overall. It was a quick trip but great to see everyone!