a few firsts before the 3-month mark

We had another momentous weekend. It seems that Charlotte likes to combine her firsts with other big events, like family weddings. She started skipping one of her two nighttime feedings over the weekend of a cousin's wedding at the end of May. This past weekend, she SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT just before my brother's wedding. And by STTN, I mean ALL night. I put her down at 8:00 and had to wake her at 6:45 so we could all get ready for the wedding. Maybe the bath after her 6:15 meal did the trick. Or maybe it was the 7:45 "snack" that I gave her. Either way, I was ill-prepared and kept waking to check to make sure she hadn't somehow scooted off the bed or smothered in a pillow (strategically placed far from her, but where it could hopefully keep her from falling off the bed).

Then she did it again the following night... down for the night at 8:00, and awake (smiling) at 5:15. We're an early-morning household, so 5:15 is a perfectly acceptable wake-up time.

As happy as sleeping all night makes me, we got an even more joyous first on Saturday evening. LAUGHTER! Not just coo's and aah's with a big grin. No, this was a true belly laugh. No repeat performance yet, but you can bet I'll try to catch it on film the next time I have the chance. It's the most beautiful sound I have ever heard, and we're calling it her Father's Day present to C.

All this just days before reaching the ripe old age of three months. It's as if someone told her she should be able to do these things by the time she starts her 4th month, so she decided to tackle them just in time.