Samantha is 2 months old and off to daycare

I will probably say this with almost every post - I can't believe Samantha is growing up so fast! 2 months has flown by and she is a very different baby today than she was even a few weeks ago. Every day is better than the last and we can see her gaining skills every day. For instance, she has always loved her bouncer, and a few weeks ago she discovered that kicking her feet while she was in there made the dangling animals move. Well now she is also swinging her arms at the animals trying to grab the rings and she gets closer and closer every day. She's already "gotten lucky" a few times with the bouncer rings and the rings on her activity mat.

She has also grown into quite the smiler, which melts my heart every time she does it. She smiles at just about anyone who smiles at her and she's recently started immitating Lawrence when he sticks his tongue out. She's just starting to react to Calvin as well, following him with her eyes sometimes and even laughing at him occasionally :) She's still eating well and growing like crazy - 12 pounds and 23 3/4 inches at her 2 month checkup, up about 4 1/2 pounds and 2 3/4 inches from birth!

So I'm back to work now, and Samantha is off to daycare. I thought it might be really hard to make the transition, but so far it hasn't been too bad. I'm able to go in and see her most days at lunch and Lawrence and I have worked out a rough schedule for drop offs and pick ups that seems to be working so far (after 3 whole days). It also helps that Samantha is now sleeping 5-7 hours straight each night, so as long as I go to bed soon after her, I'm getting a decent night's sleep! Lawrence will be taking turns getting up with her in the night as well, as soon as I figure out how to get the earplugs into my tiny ears (it doesn't do me much good to have him get up with her if I can hear her crying and him making the bottle). The daycare people are great - they are holding her almost every time I go in to see her or pick her up, which tells me she's getting plenty of individual attention. She's napping and eating well while she's there, too (after the first day, which didn't go that great).

I want to give a shout out to all my friends who have kids now and are helping us figure out how it all works! I recently got to meet Erin's first baby, Lindsey, who is adorable! Here she is sitting next to Sam and I (with Charlotte flying out of the picture).

And here are most of the Moms gathered together with the rugrats. We're missing Maggie and Colin, Nancy and Amelie, and Susan and Jackson :( Hopefully we can get everyone together someday soon to celebrate our new lives as Mommies!