Avalon's First Birthday!

This past Monday was Avalon’s first birthday. We had two birthday parties for her, one in Duluth and one in Moorhead. Avalon was not too sure what to think about the cake. She didn’t like it sticking to her hands; however by the second party, Avalon did really enjoy the frosting. Avalon also had fun with the presents, she especially liked the bags, boxes and ribbons. Although when we helped her find the toys inside, she did really enjoy the them too. See some fun pics from the parties below.

Party 1 - Before and after cake:



Party 2 - Before and after cake



Fun with mom and dad:



Opening presents:

Slip sliding away!

 

Who knew you could check out children's toys from the library? We sure didn't! But we just happened to be at the Duluth Public Library and they had a children's slide there that had `TAKE ME HOME' written on the side. So we did. The slide was a perfect size for Avalon. As you can see from the picture, she learned to go down the slide on her own. Although we did have to catch her since the landings were not always soft.

First Steps

Avalon is not fully walking yet, but she has taken her first steps. She took three solid steps last week, July 8th, and then tonight, July 14, she took as many as 8 steps. We did capture a few of these steps on video as well, as shown above. The few times that Avalon took 6 or 8 steps, she was walking towards Ukki (Grandpa Niemi) and Mummi (Grandma Niemi). Whenever she walks towards Mommy or Daddy, she gets so excited that she just dives forward. Avalon seems to be anxious to walk and is getting more and more daring, so stay tuned.

On another note, Avalon climbed her first flight of stairs on Monday, July 13. We didn’t have any stairs at our apartment in North Carolina so she didn’t have any incentive to climb them until we arrived in MN this summer. Her first trip all the way up the stairs was Monday morning when Mommy was still sleeping and Avalon was looking for her to get her morning meal.

First 4th of July

Avalon celebrated her first 4th of July. She did not stay awake to see the fireworks, but she did join us at canal park in Duluth for the festivities. She enjoyed the music and kept busy walking and dancing around the stroller. See video clip below.

So Big!

July 2nd was the first of many times we said "How big is Avalon?" and she responded by raising her hands above her head and then of course we all then raise our hands and say "So Big." It's funny how playing this game with Avalon never gets old and continues to be as exciting as the first time she did it. And, of course, we captured a great picture of the Niemi's joining in!

Swimming, swimiming and more swmiming

As we've mentioned before, Avalon loves the water! So, this summer, we've taken her swimming many times at lots of different places.

Avalon has been swimming in a lake at Lisa's family cabin.



At a wading pool in Moorhead:



And in backyard pools in Moorhead and Duluth:

Avalon stands alone!

Before we left NC, Avalon was standing alone without support for one or two seconds. On our trip from NC to MN, we stopped at a park in Michigan that was right on a lake, so it was really windy and cold. Jarad was playing with Avalon and she stood by herself for at least five seconds (see picture above). It was very exciting! Over the last couple of weeks, her balance is improving and she is standing alone really well now and she does it many times a day. Now she will stand and clap her hands if we encourage her. It is so much fun! Below she is swimming in the pool in the Grandma and Grandpa Moeckel’s backyard. Her cousin Corbin is encouraging her to clap! She has not taken any steps on her own yet, but stay tuned...