Nostalgia!

Tonight, after we put Sam to bed, Brian and I looked through all of the pics of her on our computer. It's amazing how much she's changed and how much she's grown in her 7 months on this planet. She went from a 5 pounder, in the bottom 2 percentile, to now being about 18 lbs, and in the 75th!!!! Brian and I were both feeling so nostalgic looking at the pictures . . . from when she was a tiny little bean curled up on our chests, barely filling up the bottom of her car seat, swing, etc., to her first few smiles caught on film, to now . . . It's incredible!

These last two days with her new glasses - WOW!!! We went out to dinner tonight -- usually while we eat, we just sit her on one of our laps and talk to her. And, she just sits there. But tonight, as Brian sat with her in his lap, I watched as she reached for his menu, the table, everything. It's incredible!!! And, she used to just barely touch the toys on her car seat, but today, as I drove all the way downtown, I heard her playing the whole way! So exciting!

The pictures remind me of so many great moments with Sam - moments I only hope I can remember to tell her about someday . . . .

- Sitting in the NICU, by her incubator, after days of hoping they'd take the feeding tube out, and watching her reach up and pull it out herself :o) and they never had to put it back in (and my friend Tricia telling me later that that definitely meant she was my child!)
- Brian being OBSESSED with keeping her warm at first, and dressing her in pjs, a hat, mittens, and TWO blankets for naps. From some of the early pics, you'd totally think we live in Alaska, not California.
- Dancing her to sleep during maternity leave, to my favorite sappy country songs
- Having to sleep downstairs w/ her b/c I broke my foot and couldn't manage the stairs
- When we would both get up with her every time she cried at night -- Brian and I are such a team! We could have taken turns, but we wanted to do it together.
- Her first smiles :o) (which have now become her almost constant smiles, and as I said to Brian, she always smiles like she's so proud of herself! I love it).
- The first time she laughed out loud, laying on the changing table, and Brian and I couldn't stop laughing
- The first time she noticed the zebra hanging from her car seat ("mr. zigs")
- When she started to talk, and then never stopped talking, to Mr. Zigs (babbling!) - We have pictures of her talking to him, and she looks SO serious!
- All of our snuggly, snuggly naps together on maternity leave
- Dressing her as a chicken on her first halloween -- and she slept through the entire thing -- even when we walked to a neighbor's to show her off
- Her first Christmas, and the whole family in matching pjs
- Her first visits with the grandparents (their smiles in the pics say it all . . . so in love with her!)
- Her first trip to the beach!!!

Even though life is chaotic and crazy, and with my job, "routine" is difficult to find, looking back over the last 7 months, I realize how much Brian and I have grown as parents and as people. From those first weeks with her at home, frantically making bottles in the middle of the night, getting them to her as fast as we could, me in my first few days ALL alone with her after B went back to work, unsure how to manage to eat and take care of her and never leaving the house . . . to now . . . where somehow we manage to live a pretty on-the-go lifestyle with her in tow, enjoying EVERY second with her, and feeling pretty confident in our ability to care for her, we've grown so much - together! --- it's incredible! And so much fun :o)