Hip, Hip Hooray- she rolled over!!

For 16 weeks we've watched Avery develop as she's laid on her back watching the ceiling, then marveling at the colors and lights of the Baby Einstein gym and eventually rolling onto her side and stopping there. She seemed to know that there was more excitement than that, but she didn't know what to do. We spent recent weeks grabbing her little hand and helping her all the way over onto her tummy and she really loved the help. A few days ago, Guy put her down on her back in the baby gym and came to the kitchen to help me for a moment. When we turned around she was on her tummy! I asked Guy if he put her on her tummy and he asked me if I'd done the same- we stared at each other in amazement that our determined and sly daughter had done her first roll so fast that we hadn't even seen it. Since then we've been on the look out and the other night we had the video camera out in case she went for it. She did and it was fabulous! You can tell by watching and listening how very excited we are with this achievement. Now when we put her down on her back she flips to her tummy right away. The funny thing is she doesn't seem to know what to do now on her tummy. We'll keep enjoying this until she decides to crawl!

Traxx Baby

As you can probably imagine, we don't go out to dinner a lot these days. We cherish the time when Guy gets home from work and we eat together and spend time as a family with Avery. (by the way, Guy has been an awesome, hands on dad- he loves taking Avery when he gets home for special daddy/daughter time). It's also great mommy rest time too :-) Last Thursday, though, we felt fairly spontaneous and we jumped in the car to go to Petaluma for dinner at our friend Chris's restaurant, Traxx (yep, it's right next to the railroad tracks!). Chris had given Avery a darling little Traxx sweatshirt and we wanted to try it on her. We had a great time having dinner out, Avery was fantastic and we did a little photo shoot at the end. Check out our little Traxx girl!

Chatter, chatter and more chatter!

Every day seems to bring more smiles, gurgles and coos from Avery. Yesterday she even giggled! Each sound is so precious to us and she seems to really enjoy hearing herself make noise. We've been encouraged to talk to her in a conversational manner, sharing things and asking her questions while leaving spaces for her to respond. We love hearing her respond in her own way. We've been trying to capture her in these moments, but she often gets camera shy and just stares at the little red light. The other day she seemed eager to chat so I brought out the camera and she kept at it. Check her out here- so fun! I also included a few pictures of Avery hanging out with dad- they are too cute together.

Tummy Time and sleeping through the night!

It's been awhile since we've updated and we have lots to report! Avery is keeping us busy, busy busy as she gets stronger during tummy time, definitely wants to roll over and is chattering away. Did we also mention that she's sleeping 9.5 hours a night? Yeah! It was so hard to believe that she was sleeping so long that I kept getting up in the night to check if she was breathing. Yes, definitely a new mommy thing to do :-) So Avery was getting lots of rest, but mommy wasn't. Now that she's slept that long 3 nights in a row mommy's getting really good rest too! Guy and I are spending a lot of time with Avery on her tummy time blanket so she can practice getting stronger and she seems to love it. We love taking video and pictures of her progress and have included some here. Check out the one of Avery flashing the peace sign- how great is that?!

Laughs and Giggles and Smile, oh my!

Guy, mom and I were having dinner tonight and Avery was sitting in her little green vibrating chair nearby (SUCH a great chair- Avery loves it!). Guy started talking to her and was able to capture her excitement with gurgles and coos. She's been doing this alot lately and smiling a TON, but when we bring out the camera, she gets shy. I think you'll thoroughly enjoy this one...

Daddy Time

Before Avery was born, Guy would always talk about how much he looked forward to "daddy/daughter" time. He was eager to take her on outings and spend quality time with her. The other night he had some fun time with her and we got some great pics. Right now Avery's really interested in looking at herself in the mirror as we point out body parts to little songs "eyes, ears, nose and belly!" Yes, it's silly but true. She totally cracks up! Check out their time together.

Growing right out of my swaddle...

Avery's been growing like a weed lately. We swear she grows an inch every night when she sleeps! Since she's been born, we've swaddled her for naps/night time and she sleeps really well this way. We actually can't imagine when we won't swaddle her anymore. She looks like a little burrito, all cozy like in the womb. Well, she definitely growing and starting to kick and move more freely lately. This morning, we went in to get her from her nap and we found her with one chubby leg sticking right out of the swaddle! She looked up at us with this guilty look- our little Houdini! We grabbed the camera and caught this pic- how cute is that. my mom's been here this week helping (so nice!) as I've officially come off maternity leave and started back to work for Young Life. It's been nice to have time for meetings and focused work when my mom watches her. I'm also looking at childcare options now- so hard to think of leaving her with anyone, but I know it will be fine. Here's a cute pic of my mom showing Avery pictures from when she was born on May 3rd. Avery's sitting up almost on her own now too- check her out!

Rolling Over!

ok, well, she's almost rolling over. Avery now loves to roll onto her side and hang out there, trying to figure out how to get all the way onto her tummy. Guy and I help her a bit to give her the sense of rolling over successfully and then watch her as she spends time on her tummy. The dr says she should be spending as much as 20 minutes on her tummy each day now so she can strengthen her neck and back muscles. She seems to enjoy the challenge as she gets more vocal. Here's a short video clip of her practice with mommy today.