As a new parent, you quickly realize how shockingly fast your newborn changes. Daily, the baby gains awareness, strength, and liveliness, not to mention pounds and inches! Truthfully, I looked at my third with the same awe and wonder with which I watched my first. The human body is amazing, and to watch a being come into this earth and develop in those early weeks, you see what a miracle it all is.

This couple witnessed these lightening-speed changes with their sweet baby girl, and they wanted to hit the ‘pause’ button and capture her in a photo session while she was still so new. At eight weeks old, she was still so sweet and tiny and squishy — still curling up in the beloved froggy pose against her mama’s chest. But we also got to capture some awake shots, her beautiful eyes starting to focus more easily, and she would lie happily on the bed between shots, exercising her legs a bit.

Baby girl lies on bed in sunlight

Sweet baby girl was so chill and happy, her parents and I got to chat and catch up as we took pictures — they’re old friends from our time at business school for my husband, so I was SO delighted to see them again and meet their daughter!

While the eight-week mark often means extreme exhaustion after eight weeks of wakeful nights, these guys just seemed to radiate with happiness at their new life as a family of three. They’d had time to get to know their daughter, and you could feel that they felt established. They were fully immersed in their new life, and while learning daily, it was already the norm.

At eight weeks, the mama had had time to process baby’s arrival and how the birth story went down. Often in newborn sessions, the birth is so recent, that the mama is still replaying it in her mind and processing all the bits and pieces. Every baby’s arrival is so unique, and as much as you can prepare mentally, you just have no idea how it will go down. Chances are, it won’t all go exactly as you want, and it’s hard to let go of control. To see her knowing her story, and knowing her feelings about it, that just really stood out to me. She later wrote, “Making the decision to have a child – it is momentous.” It is, and this couple was so ready. Enjoy these peeks at their session… xoxo

Newborn girl rests on mom's chest