2011 Milestones

Arrival: 11 days late, prompted by acupuncture, labor started at home at 4pm 8/17 but she was too big and had to arrive via c-section 8/18 at 7:47am

Sleep through the night: 3 weeks (yes we're lucky!)

Smile: 5 weeks (in the car)

Also while we were in Colorado over her 1 month birthday, we learned that she was faking Arielle out while eating and was actually sleeping part of the time, so we adjusted our concept of her eating schedule and found a real schedule under there. Imagine that, she ate every 2 hours quite regularly. This was the beginning of the idea "every month we get a new baby."

Take regular naps : 2 months

This new baby at 2 months trick was brought to us by our pediatrician suggesting that we try a different bottle for her when Andy was feeding her pumped breastmilk. We've switched to the more natural Tommy Tippee brand and voila! Amaya is full enough to take naps twice a day. Awesome.

Hold the bottle by herself: 10 weeks.

This week also marked the start of her making happy baby noises and vocal aerobics.

Grabbing for things: week 13

Showing major personality (attitude, smirking or smiling reactions): week 14

Also: the start of teething. Her 3 month change was that she was really, really into everything around her. She's always been a very alert baby, but all the personality came out in a way that we could really play with her and interact very genuinely.

Seeing her first Christmas lights and the Electric Light Parade: week 16

Showing a really strong preference for things (milk, toys, mom): week 17

Amaya's first cold: week 18

This also marks the 4 month mark for her, where she's a very good communicator in regard to diapers needing to be changed and her needs are very regular and predictable. She's good at hanging out and likes to bounce in her Jumparoo or be held while we walk around. While she prefers to be on us, she's good at entertaining herself while we cook if she's in her seat and has things to occupy her attention.

Amaya's first Christmas: week 19

More to come, and I may even fill in some of the gaps with more photos. We still have her birth story to post and one or two currently unpublished blogs that are now a bit outdated but still worth posting as they're true to that moment in time.