I wish I remember how alert my daughter was at birth (she's almost 12 now). I had a really terrible labor and was pretty out of it for awhile after that. But I do know that we couldn't cosleep with her - she pinwheeled, scooted, and kicked us in the face from the very beginning. When I broke out of my fog (after the first couple of weeks), it was noticeable how strong she was and everybody commented on her alertness.
My son was a natural birth at home so I remember everything. He's always been very alert and managed to support his own weight very early. He could hold up his head for about 15-30 seconds or so at birth. I remember we tried to get him to calm down right after he was born so he could nurse - he was screaming so much. The only thing that calmed him down was reading him Green Eggs and Ham (which we read to him in the womb). He has always been VERY high needs and has never slept the amount they tell you to expect.
He smiled at 5 days, laughed at 2 weeks, supported his weight on his legs at about 1.5 weeks and "walked" up his daddy's chest with help for balance. We got a lot of comments about how "aware" he seemed and how he seemed to be studying people.
Here's pictures of him at 6 days old:
Here's one of him smiling at my daughter Here's my favorite one from that set. My daughter was calling him off camera to the right.
