Wiegand Writes

1. While continuing to perfect the art of rolling over, Avery has learned to hold her head up really high! 2. Avery took a ride in her carrier for the first time. She loved it! 3. Avery, Meg, and I took a family picture while sporting Long Beach Island Tshirts! 4. Avery and Jack had a weekend long play date...they color coordinated, posed for pictures, played together, slept next to each other, and had an awesome time overall! 5. Avery visited "Old Barney" (the lighthouse in Barnegat Light, NJ). She walked to the water and saw a sailboat. She then fell asleep in the carrier! 6. Jack and Avery received special onesies from Aunt Trish. Avery's said, "I'm with HIM," and had pearls! Jack's said, "I'm with HER," and had a ...

Avery woke up early again this morning. We left her to talk in her crib until it was an acceptable time to wake up. When we went into her nursery (around 6am), we found her spun around in her crib, lying half on her side and half on her belly (still swaddled). We changed her diaper (apparently she thinks it's fun to poop every morning and wake herself up!), ate breakfast, watched some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and set her down on her blanket. She was only on her blanket for about a minute before she started trying to roll over...she moved to her belly fairly easy. It was the second arm that frustrated her. The fact that she was about 10 minutes away from her nap didn't make it any easier. The best part was that the batteries in our flipcam started flashing red and died seconds after Avery rolled over! Enjoy! (I'll post a happier video later when Avery perfects the art of rolling over!)

This morning Meg and I were sitting on the floor talking and watching Avery play on her activity mat. All of the sudden, Avery rolled over!!! It was awesome! She rolled over a second time while visiting our friend Taralyn and her daughter Violet. I tried to catch it on video..(I came really close a couple of times)...BUT unfortunately I failed. I'll try again tomorrow! Until then, feel free to waste a few minutes of your life watching Avery try to roll over! Be sure to check out Avery's new toy...we bought her the Kick and Play piano playmat. She absolutely LOVES it! This first video is a little long (roughly 4 minutes), but Avery makes numerous attempts and the dogs are annoying (I mean humorous). This is the special treatment one deserves on such a monumental day...too bad I was about 30 seconds too late with the camera and missed the giggle! This is my favorite video...I love when she smiles and talks! It's hard to believe that less than one week ...

Tonight, Megan was reading the Different Dragon to Avery. In the story, the little boy has two moms. One of the moms is referred to as "Go-ma." As Megan was reading the story I couldn't help, but laugh. (Sometimes I think I have a problem) Seriously though, I just couldn't stop thinking about all of the times people have asked Meg and I what Avery will call us.  While we fully intend to let Avery make that choice, I told Meg that I was going to start telling people the most absurd name I could think of...just to see their reactions! (As Meg continued to read, I interjected a few possibilities!) You see, I have found that you can INSTANTLY tell whether people like/approve of the name you have chosen for your child based on how they respond. If they like it, they smile and say, "That's a great name." or "Pretty." If they're unsure or flat out hate it, they fake a smile and say, "Oh. That's different." or "I've never...

Seeing that my most recent blog posts have been of a serious nature, I decided it would be a good idea to post some new pictures of Avery! Today, we placed Avery in her Bumbo seat for the first time. She is still a little too little (she's still working on holding her big head up) so Meg had to hold her hand behind her neck. Still, the pictures came out really cute: This picture should be the new advertisement for Bumbo...It's as if she's pointing to a sign that reads, "Bumbo" Avery is practicing for Disney World...she's waiting for the ride to start... "Oh, no!" The Bumbo is perfect level for Bailey to give his bad breath kisses!! Staring at mommy... Giggles... "Look ma! No Hands!!!" Here are two pictures from today's play time...notice the hands in the mouth! (she loves staring at herself in the mirror) In the even...

Avery had a better day today: 1. Her naps were longer. This could be due to the fact that she is learning to put herself to sleep OR it could just be the fact that I sat in her room for almost an hour during her first nap...I observed every move and I came to the conclusion that Avery desperately needs help transitioning into a deep sleep. She can't nap longer than 45 minutes-1 hour because she consistently wakes herself up (when her body jolts). I also found that the "shh-pat" method (you know the one I attempted to master yesterday) is too distracting for Avery. It almost felt as if I was waking her up. So, instead, I applied a little pressure to her arm (kind of like when you hold a baby). It must have been just enough because she calmed down. I removed one hand at a time and voila...she was asleep! Avery fussed a little during her second nap (she wasn't crying...more like grunting to get out of her swaddle) but she eventually put herself to sleep and slept ...

There are millions of baby books out there suggesting ideas on how to transform demon spawn babies into angels. While some of the ideas are legit, I'm convinced that others were written so that authors can laugh knowing that somewhere a desperate mom is trying one of them. Think I'm kidding? I wish. Today, I almost hyperventilated (not really), but I could have! Whispering "shh shh shhh" for 7-10 minutes is ridiculous. I understand that the concept is due to the nature of a baby's sleep cycle, but come on! In the ten minutes I stood in Avery's room all I thought of was how I could skip this step in the future...I imagined recording myself, uploading it to my ipod, and pressing play once Avery's eyes closed. As if that concept wasn't difficult enough, Meg told me that I was supposed to pat Avery's back in a tick-tock pattern while "shh shh shh-ing." Oh, ok! I asked Meg..."So, just to clarify I am supposed to pat her back while...

Hmm..where do I even begin? Avery has been a great baby from the very first day she was born. So great that she pretty much slept through everything in the hospital (including her hearing test, doctor check up, and some of her hospital photoshoot) When we brought her home it was more of the same. She was a typical sleepy newborn. She rarely cried and was rather predictable. Her only problem was gas. By the time Avery was 2 weeks old, we had switched her to Enfamil Gentlease. It seemed to work better than the Enfamil newborn, but Avery still suffers from gas on occasion.  We tried adding gripe water into her bottles. This caused Avery to develop a rash all over her body (which ultimately made her more uncomfortable). Our most recent attempt revolved around Little Tummies. While the drops do seem to calm her, they only work temporarily. Oh, and Avery despises the taste of them (despite their "berry flavor"). Seriously, I'm waiting for her to foam at the mouth one day!...

I'm sure you remember how excited Meg and I were a few weeks ago when we paid the balance at our lawyer's office and signed all of our adoption paperwork. It was a huge day for us. We felt like a weight was lifted off of our shoulders. We were all set to wait for a court date. Now, imagine our surprise when we opened our mail to find out that we still needed to schedule appointments for fingerprinting in New Jersey. Oh, and that the deadline for filing is August 1st! Needless to say, we began our day in Ewing, New Jersey. The fingerprinting took all of 10 minutes. We then headed to North Jersey to visit Jack, Phyllis, and Kerry! Avery was VERY cranky by the time we got to the house...she was tired and hungry, but worst of all, she was sitting in a poop. We got her cleaned up and started feeding her lunch. Fortunately, Jack had to eat too! Afterwards, Avery handed Jack his present (she picked it out at the zoo!). Phyllis helped Jack open it and became insanely excited. S...

Today we went to the Philadelphia Zoo. We saw a sloth! He was sleeping far away in the trees, but Avery and I both loved it. We also saw some gorillas, a mommy and baby orangutan, and a lot of different monkeys! Our zoo trip also included visits to the lions and tigers exhibits, a quick stroll through the reptile house,  and lunch inside the rare mammals house. As always we took A LOT of pictures! Here are some of our favorites:   Despite the strong sun and odor (from the people not the animals), it was an amazing day! Before we left, we hit the gift shop and bought Avery a sloth stuffed animal and the book  Goodnight Zoo.