We may not have known about baby Austin’s existence until May of this year when notoriously private couple, Zoe Ventoura and Dan MacPherson, confirmed they had secretly welcomed their first child, but already he’s celebrating his first birthday.
Even with seven, rather than 12, months passing in our minds, time really has flown!
On Tuesday, the former Home And Away star took to Instagram to mark her son’s milestone birthday with a rare new photo.
“And just like that… my baby is one 😭❤,” Zoe captioned the sweet snap.
Following suit, husband Dan shared the same photograph, writing: “And In a heartbeat, he’s One. Happy Birthday my Little King x. #AustinXavier ❤️😎”
In the pic, the blonde bub can be seen playing with a sign bearing his name. While his face isn’t shown, he looks adorable in a pair of denim overalls.
Austin is already adored by some of Australia’s most notable celebs with birthday wishes rolling in on both Zoe and Dan’s Instagram accounts.
“Happy birthday young fella!!” Luke Hemsworth wrote.
“Happy Birthday Austi!!!! What a year Mamma! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 ” Zoe’s Summer Bay love interest, Sarah Roberts commented.
“Oh wow, Zoe. Amazing, how fast did that go 💙💙,” Home And Away actress Georgie Parker added.
Despite staying intensely private when it comes to their family life, Dan spoke about fatherhood on an episode of athlete Samantha Gash’s podcast.
“Looking back now, you can’t make decisions about life as a parent when you’re not a parent,” he said.
“There’s things in our DNA, in our cells that we don’t even know about that get awakened when you’re looking back at a little version of yourself staring back at you going ‘Love me, hug me, feed me, hold me.’ When all of a sudden, the next job doesn’t really matter.”
The happy parents confirmed Austin Xavier’s arrival after being spotted and photographed with the newborn despite no-one knowing Zoe had fallen pregnant.
“I am very happy to confirm that Zoë and Dan welcomed a baby boy in December last year,” a spokesperson for the couple told the Herald Sun in May.
“Austin Xavier arrived healthy and smiling. Mum, Dad and baby are all happy and well.”