19 Weeks Old!

Another fun week...Avalon is now 19 weeks old!


Avalon went to her first pool party at the Slusser's house in Manhattan Beach this week! I considered putting her in her swim suit, but instead she just dipped her feet in the water! We are excited for the days when she'll want to jump and play in the water. Will be so great... Big congratulations to the Slusser's on the arrival of their new daughter, Sienna! Hayden is going to be a great older brother. Avalon debuted her sunglasses - she has a cool pink pair. We weren't sure if she wouold like them or not, but she seemed to think they were ok! I'll add a picture of her in her sunnies soon!


I took Avalon to her first movie...we saw Year One with some of the other Yoga Mamas and their babies. The theatre in Manhattan Beach has a showing every Monday were you can take babies. Avalon did really well in the theatre. She was pretty interested in what was happening on screen - of course, Jack Black is pretty funny...


Avalon had another big "first" this week...yesterday while visiting our friends Chelsea and John, and their baby Stone, Avalon rolled over!!! She was checking out Stone, who was laying on a blanket next to her and she rolled over to get a better look at him! She rolled from her back to her front - we are proud of her! :) Chelsea got a picture of her rolling, so I'll post that one soon.


Here are a few pictures from the week:


#1 Avalon wearing her super cute outfit from Niccalina!



#2 Perfecting tummy time...and holding on to her owl blanket from Kim.



#3 Another day, another cute outfit!

#4 John with Avalon and Bronte. Avalon is wearing her "baby legs" for the first time - essentially leg warmers! So cute...and argyle!!

#5 We took Avalon out on Friday night for a little happy hour in Hermosa Beach. Once again, she did great!




Hope that this week is going well for everyone.


All our love,
Johanna, John + Avalon (and Bronte!) xo

18 Weeks Old!

Hi all,


Avalon turned 4 months old on June 16th! It's amazing how fast time is flying and how fast she is growing. I know that everyone told us how quickly it would go, but wow...


We had Avalon's 4 month pediatrician appointment, which went really well. She got a clean bill of health from Dr Lauren. We also got her new growth stats...get ready for it....Avalon is now: 19 pounds (8.6 kilos) and 26.5 inches tall (67.3 centimeters). Can you believe it? Yes, she is still in the 100th percentile for her height and weight! She also still has blue eyes. This is one gorgeous baby!


Avalon and Mommy visited Miwa and her gorgeous 3 month old twin daughters (Kaya and Saya) this week. It was great to see all of you! Avalon tested out a swing at their house, and she liked it so much that we bought one for her. So now we have yet another HUGE piece of baby gear in the livingroom...


Sunday, June 21st was Father's Day in the US (interesting fact: Australia and the USA share the same day for Mother's Day, but not for Father's Day). Happy Father's Day, Dad!!! You are the best Dad ever! :)


We celebrated John's first Father's Day with a nice brunch at home and a fun day in the sunshine. John even got a cool red wine aerator contraption which Avalon helped me to pick out!


Here are some photographs from the week:

#1 Avalon practicing sitting up - she isn't able to do it quite yet, but she looks so cute trying!

#2 Sitting with Daddy waiting for her 4 month pediatrician appointment. She's only wrapped in a little blanket (looks a bit like a pink toga!) since we had to take her clothes off to get her accurate weight.

#3 Not thrilled to be getting a pedicure from Daddy... Mommy has volunteered to receive pedicures too, but John says that his skills are reserved for the baby! :)



#4 Pedicure close up

#5 Avalon on her activity mat lying on her side...any day now she's going to roll over!



#6 In a swing at Miwa's house. Thanks Miwa for letting Avalon try it out! :)



#7 Avalon taking a nap in her new swing...here is the one that we just got her - she loves it!



#8 Sleeping in her new swing, close up...

#9 Avalon with some of her favorite toys.

We hope that you all had a great week and a fabulous Father's Day weekend (for those of you in the US)! Congrats to all the great daddies out there...especially mine!!

Love, xo

Johanna, John + Avalon

17 Weeks Old!

These weeks are sure flying by.....Avalon is now 17 weeks old!


Avalon has mastered sucking her thumb this week! Some babies apparently seem to know how to do this in the womb, but our girl used to put her whole fist in her mouth. This week she's really learned how to manuver her thumb independently and get it into her mouth. She still prefers sucking on mommy's thumb sometimes though... :)


Avalon will soon be an Australian citizen, as well as an American - the lucky duck! Johanna's been spending her "free time" lately doing paperwork to get Avalon's citizenship application package prepared. The package was finally sent off to Washington DC today to the Australian Embassy. It's exciting times - John is also in a process to become a US citizen, and Johanna's about to embark on her process to become Australian! Let's just say, Johanna's been doing ALOT of paperwork!


Tomorrow (June 16), Avalon is four months old! We have her four month pediatrician check-up appointment tomorrow afternoon. I will post her height and weight stats soon! We suspect that she might be off the percentile chart!


Here are a couple of photographs of Avalon from the week:


#1 I finally caught Avalon in the midst of a gorgeous smile!




#2 Avalon with her little New Zealand sheep toy from Grandpa and Grandma Kim




#3 Avalon all wrapped up in towels after a bath




More soon...hope that everyone has a great week!



Love xo
Johanna, John + Avalon

Our Big Girl is 16 Weeks Old!

Avalon is 16 weeks old! Another week has flown by...


For the first 15 weeks of her life, Avalon slept swaddled tightly ("Happiest Baby on the Block" style). Without being swaddled, Avalon's arms would wake her up and drive her crazy! So, we had to swaddle like a straight jacket... Well our little girl is growing up I guess, because she refused to be swaddled this week! She was so focused on not wanting to be swaddled that John literally couldn't keep her wrapped up! We put her sleep sack on instead (essentially a blanket that she wears, but her arms are free) and put her in the bassinet without the swaddle. She showed us that she can sleep just fine without the swaddle now and is clearly very happy to be able to move her arms around!


Avalon will soon be the holder of a US passport. We submitted the paperwork and her little photo. I won't say how mant tries it took to get Avalon to hold her head straight and not move in the picture... Let's just say that it was a challenge!


This week Avalon and I went to two baby showers. Both were filled with other babies/kids, which Avalon loved. It's interesting to see how babies are drawn to other "little people". Avalon reached out and touched one of the baby boys...hmmm, no dating yet, darling! :)


The most exciting thing that happened this week is that Avalon laughed for the first time. On Sunday night she giggled twice - it was definitely the most incredible sound that John and I have ever heard! Of course, since then we've been making funny faces, tickling her and doing anything that we can think of that Avalon migt find even remotely amusing to try and get her to laugh again. I'm thinking we may need to take her to a comedy club!


Here are a few photos from the week...


#1 Avalon wearing the adorable sweater from Niccalina and socks from Kate!

#2 Avalon loves to be in her jumper contraption! I think John wants to try it too...



#3 Close up!

#4 Avalon on her activity mat... Love those purple stripped pants!

Hope everyone out there is having a great week, too!

Love,

Johanna, John + Avalon (and Bronte!)

15 Weeks Old!

Hi all,


Avalon is 15 weeks old today!


John and I can hardly believe how fast time is flying by and how each week brings so many changes in our girl - both in development and in her size. Yes, for those of you wondering when you see the pictures, Avalon is a VERY big baby now! She's in the 100% percentile of height and weight...seriously! We've just upgraded her to Size 3 diapers (that's "nappies" for you Aussies) even! :)


One of our favorite developmental changes in Avalon is her "speaking" ability. She's so chatty now...making lots of sounds and sometimes spending 5-10 minutes at a time making eye contact and acting like she is carrying on a conversation with us. "Ah-goo" and "A la" are her favorite words for the moment...we love them, too!


This week we were invited to visit the Hypnobirthing class (led by the instructor, Ellie, who led our course) and share my birth story. It's the second time that we've been invited back since Avalon was born. It was nice to share our story and answer questions from the class participants - hopefully we were able to give them more confidence about having a hypnobirth.


Here are some photos from this past week.


#1 Avalon looking very wide-eyed in her Bumbo...

#2 Avalon watching the mobile in her nursery crib....since Avalon sleeps in a bassinet in our bedroom still, she rarely ever spends much time in her nursery. I like to put her in her crib occasionally to watch her mobile. She hasn't ever slept in her nursery crib though...hopefully she will try it sometime soon!

#3 Avalon with her "Flat Bear", a present from Matt and Sonia (thank you!!)....PS - John and I are sooooo excited for the arrival of Baby Baillie, Sonia! I'm sure that Avalon and Baby Baillie will be lifelong friends! :)

#4 Avalon munching on Daddy's hand. Not sure why John's head is missing in this picture!!!

#5 Scott holding Avalon after a lunch with John and Johanna at Gum Tree, a new shop and cafe in Hermosa Beach owned by Aussies.

#6 Avalon chilling with her "Bunny Blanket", a present from her Grandma Nagel. Avalon shows her love for the bunny by putting it's nose in her mouth and getting it very wet!

Hope that the last 15 weeks have been great for all of you, as well! Until next week...!

All our love,

xo Johanna, John and Avalon