When it comes to celebrities and baby names, you just never know where they're going to go. Often it's to bizarre and unseemly places, but sometimes they surprise us with a good one as Robert Downey Jr. and wife Susan did today.

According to People, their son arrived Tuesday morning weighing 7 pounds, 5 ounces, and everyone is healthy and happy. Such great news to hear for the couple, and even better is the fact that they shared the name right away instead of making us wait and wonder. Not everyone likes it though. In fact, many are already putting him in the weird celebrity baby name club. But I think it works. See what you think ... 

Now that my babies are 6 months old, I'm starting to see their little personalities coming through more and more. Before, I would take every angry cry or easy giggle as some hint of their future selves, but only now is it really starting to feel legit.

That being said, how much can you really tell about your child at this early age? I mean, one day, I've decided that "Herman" is lazy and loud like Mommy because he's not so into rolling, but loves just babbling away. Then, the next day, he's rolling left and right and flipping over and my whole "lazy" theory flies out the window. Point being, young babies change and grow and learn so quickly, can you really assign personality traits already?

Yes, I think so. 

Our babies grow up so fast. Sometimes the moments seem slow, but the process itself is often a fast one. One minute we are holding helpless little creatures and the next they can walk, talk, climb, and run. It's so emotional. And while we wait months for them to do all the things we want to see, sometimes when they do them, they actually make us cry.

For many moms, the first smile is the biggest one. In those early postpartum weeks, we are just hoping for some indication that this eating, pooping, and sleeping machine we take care of 24/7 actually notices us. So when they smile, it lights up so much more than just their face. Then, a few weeks later, they laugh. And that laugh makes our hearts explode with joy.

The first year is a blur of milestones. Our babies start the process toward becoming toddlers from the moment they exit the womb. Some of the bigger milestones are these:

It's the biggest fear of every working mom and the mean thing stay-at-home moms say to working moms when they want to hurt them -- what happens if you miss your baby's "firsts"? It makes sense. Because what DOES happen when baby starts crawling (or walking or talking) and only the nanny is there to see it. The answer: Nothing.

Seriously, ladies. This is much less of a big deal than we all fear it will be. And I say this as someone who was a stay-at-home mom through both of my children's baby-hoods. I saw all their "firsts" (and their seconds and their thirds and their fourths) and I promise that what matters way more is the first time YOU see it.

Both of my children were kind enough to save their milestones to times my husband was home, so we both saw their first steps together. But maybe we didn't.

People always say not to compare your babies to help avoid sibling rivalry. But when your babies are born 18 months apart, it is sort of impossible. Every move my younger child (my son) made was immediately compared to his sister who was just 18 months ahead of him. And my poor boy did not fare as well.

Through every milestone except talking, my boy was slower. He pulled up a month later, grabbed things weeks later, walked months later and is now potty training 18 months later and counting. People say boys develop slower than girls, but I had always believed that to be one of those things "they" tell new parents. But in our case, it has been so true.

Alan, my sweet and curious and gentle little boy, has done everything just a bit behind his sister.

My Grandma and babyWhen you look at your babies, you can't help but think about what lies ahead for them: first birthdays and Saturday soccer games, high school graduation, their wedding day. So, just imagine being 95-years-old and meeting your great-grandchildren for the very first time, actually living long enough to see your baby's baby have a couple of babies of his own. Mind-blowing, right?

Over the holidays, while we were in NY, my babies met my husband's grandmother, and charmed her with their mischievous little smiles. They already spend several hours a week with their great-grandma here in LA, and here they were, in the arms of yet another great grandparent. Man, oh man, how lucky we are.

There is not much that stresses parents out more than their baby's development. It is enough to make any mom (or dad) nuts as they wait for their baby to make eye contact, smile, laugh and eventually walk. Many people are under the mistaken impression that children who do these things ahead are special or behind have problems.

Well, rest assured mom and dad. These things mean nothing. Milestone charts are more like an approximation and a bunch of averages. If your baby falls ahead or behind it no more means he will be the next Bill Gates than it does that he will be the next Pauly Shore.

So, relax. For those who are concerned, here is a simple milestone timeline to help gauge your baby's progress:

My first child -- my daughter Samara -- was as easy a baby as they come. She hit each milestone right on time, she slept through the night at six weeks. She rarely cried unless it was for a specific and obvious reason. Because she was so simple we thought, "Hey! This parenting thing is a cinch! Let's do it again!"

How wrong we were. Our second child -- my son, Alan -- was born 18 months after our daughter and nothing was the same. It took him 15 months to sleep through the night, he loved nursing in a way my daughter had not. He nursed until he was three, in fact. But most of all, he wanted to be carried.

Even now, 3.5 years after his birth, Alan would still prefer to be carried everywhere we go. But when he was a baby, this was actually a problem.