Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Oliver had his first visit to the zoo back in January.  And then his second... and his third.  And yes, I am just now posting about it, so it has all been rolled into one post.  Sorry about that.  I was surprised the first time just how timid he was about it all.  Of course, we had just moved back to the US; he was sleeping in a strange place; there was construction going on at our house, and he didn't know any of the friends who accompanied us.  Not to mention the giant animals... but still!  He's so outgoing and fearless normally that I was surprised.

I sort of got a smile at the chimpanzee habitat:

And he showed some attention to the rhinos:

Whose habitat I discovered was sponsored by Chris' company.  Haha.

It wasn't until we hit the giraffes that he started warming up a bit, especially in response to Riley's wagon. He was a little disappointed in his own stroller by comparison:


Though Oliver wasn't too sure about the whole thing, I sure had a good time with my friends!!

Our second trip wasn't until after Elliot was born, and by mid-April, Oliver was much more ready to enjoy the zoo.  He boldly followed our 3-year-old neighbor and new friend Sophie:

He LOVED the monkeys (a word he had recently learned to say):

But even more enjoyed the giraffes and ostrich (weird, I know, but he's still talking about the ostrich over a month later!):

He was sure to inform me that the giraffes are tall:

And our third trip to the zoo (in which, yes, Oliver is wearing the same clothes... it was three weeks later and I forgot.  Sorry!) involved more people and therefore less opportunity to take pictures.  We did enjoy the "woooos" as Oliver calls them:

Especially the "baby wooo":

And this time, he discovered a giraffe statue, which he promptly approached for a conversation:

If we can stomach the heat, we intend to be back a lot this summer!  Oh, and to top it off, Elliot slept in the stroller the entire time.  Both trips.  Almost two hours each time.  I'm telling you, I don't know what to do with a baby that's so easy!  Such a foreign concept to me, but so appreciated!!!