My 5-week-old

Aminah is five weeks old today! According to BabyCenter......


Your baby's neck muscles are getting stronger, which allows her to hold her head up for short periods.


Yup, Aminah is taking after big brother Miles here and has been holding her head up since day one. My kids have tiny peanut heads which probably makes this easier for them. Still, she holds her head up like a champ and has super strong muscles (she has also been scooting since birth....put her down on the bed and she will scoot away!)


Smiling happens at about the same time in all cultures, so get ready for your baby to reward all your loving care with a beaming, toothless, just-for-you smile. This will probably make your heart melt, even if you've just had your worst night yet.

She is making us work hard for them, but yes, she smiles. The surefire way to get her to grin is to hold up a mirror to her face! #diva #wereintrouble


Your baby may start sleeping longer at night (maybe four to six hours) some time between 6 weeks and 6 months of age. Most sleep experts suggest putting your baby to bed while she's still awake, but drowsy. This will help her learn to fall asleep on her own.

Hahahahhaha! Hahahahahaha! A six hour stretch at night? Not on your life! Go to sleep on her own? Riiiiiiiight! This girl wants nothing but to be held by mommy. She wakes up at night if I even think about taking my boob out of her mouth. I don't foresee this changing any time soon.

Your baby is learning that she has hands and fingers and feet and toes. She's also starting to talk more. Not with words, of course, but by cooing — with increasing goos, gurgles, and grunts. This marks the beginning of her language development. 


 Aminah discovered her hands a few weeks ago and she will wave them around and stare at them for a few minutes every now and then. So far her feet don't interest her (although she does love to kick them while nursing). She is talking to us more now and especially loves when we sing to her. She also lets us know when she's not happy. This girl can SCREAM.

But who could resist this face?

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The Children's Place Holiday Collection & Giveaway

It's no secret how much I love shopping at The Children's Place. They produce quality clothing for kids that is cute and stylish and, best of all, really lasts. I have been lucky enough to get invited to shop their new collections every season, and a few weeks ago I headed to one of their stores in Miami to check out the holiday duds.

Now, as you may recall, I went two weeks past my due date and in the final days before I went into labor, I spent a lot of time walking in the mall. I ducked into The Children's Place and fell in love with the little girl holiday party dresses. I wished I had a bigger girl to shop for because not only were the dresses beautiful but reasonably priced (they have been killing it with the sales lately!)

I finally got to take my time and look through all of the new fashions during their media shopping event. It was my first outing after Aminah was born and as I was only two weeks postpartum I had my husband tag along. It was definitely a bit tricky getting out of the house with such a tiny baby. We ended up having to stop twice during the long ride to Miami so I could nurse her and change her diaper. She fell asleep right as we arrived so I was able to concentrate on the shopping at hand!

I ended up picking out matching outfits for Miles and Aminah to wear to services at the holidays. Although I loved the "Fur, fun and fabulous" collection

and the florals

I decided to dress the kids in perfect plaids.

                                          

The entire holiday collection is so cute and fun, and filled with lots of sparkly shoes, leggings and headbands for the girls. The boys collection has classic pieces like blazers, vests, plaid shirts and striped sweaters. You can't go wrong at The Children's Place, whether you're shopping for your own kids or picking up gifts.

The Children's Place was nice enough to offer a $25 gift card to a Blacktating reader. Enter the giveaway below with Rafflecopter. If you're new to Rafflecopter, watch a video here on how to use it to enter giveaways.

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