OK I did it: Day one of Blog.

I'm welcoming myself to that which is BLOGGING. A few years ago, Paul asked me what the heck a blog was. I didn't know either. Now I feel like I had to create this because ever since our daughter was born, I must have more to say. To more people who might care. Or maybe I'm wrong. Either way, I am going to get it out right here, especially since I am awful at the real-life baby scrap-booking thing. So for those of you who are wondering what our little space family is up to these days, you can check in here.

I am really not sure yet how to sum up the last 18 months. This is meant to be a blog mainly about my experience as a new mom to Anna-Marie Melaine, who was born on March 08, 2007. Every day I would think that I should write some of this crazy stuff down. Then a day goes by and then a month. Then I think, "you should start a blog." Then, "Nah, it's too late. All of the crazy baby stuff has passed. That is the cool stuff to write about." So let me sum it up below.

Paul and I have been together since high school and just last year (me, 31; Paul, 34) we welcomed our first daughter Anna-Marie. Yes, we were told things would change. Blah blah blah. We'd been through alot together, so spare me, people! We knew what sleeplessness was, and have pretty well-educated heads on our shoulders so we can pretty much handle a newborn, thank you very much.

But Anna was a cranky baby. Really, she was a bundle of misery for the first 3 months of her life. She was diagnosed at 4 weeks old with painful Acid Reflux, and thankfully treated such that by about month 3 she began to enjoy life. We begged her to take a pacifier, which she finally did at month 2. We lived under the white noise that is the venthood over our stove for 3 months. She hated the swing, all 4 that we tried and returned (thanks to Babies R Us' wonderful return policy) until month 3. Her only likes were near-Shaken-Baby-Syndrome-like stroller rides (on bumpy grass, not smooth pavement) and very active bouncy seats. She hated the carseat...actually until month 16 :) Thanks to a wonderful Day Care center right across the street from my job at NASA, I regained some sense of sanity as I returned to work after 3 months of maternity leave.

Fast-forward through her first sleeping-through-the night at around 5 weeks, her first cold at 3 months old, her first GI bug at 4 months old, her first tooth at 6 months old, her first plane ride at 6 months old, the fact that she hated to crawl (10.5 months old), and so started trying to walk at 9 months old (mastered it finally by herself on March 28), her first birthday at the Ice Hotel in Canada, giving up bottles on her own at exactly 1 year and 2 weeks old, her first word: book (or Duck. Airplane was her second), her first tinkle on the potty, and here we are at month 18 (as of yesterday) and I have finally come around to trying to summarize it all. For you sentimental mommies out there shaming me, yes I have documented it all in an actual baby book. So it's all there too.