8 Weeks Old-What a Big Girl!

Ever since we've had Samantha, we have had a lot more guests visiting us in Bloomington.  For some reason I don't really think they are coming to visit us.  Samantha grows and changes so much from each week to the next, it is amazing to think about how different she was even four weeks ago.

Our visitor this past weekend was my sister, Christy.  We love having her come to visit, and she is so helpful in taking care of Samantha and helping us do other things around the house while she is here.  Christy is a great aunt, and you can tell that she really loves her little niece.  While she was here we just spent time together talking and watching little Samantha, played some games, and even tried out the new mongolian grill restaurant in Bloomington.  Samantha is becoming so much more expressive and interactive, and we love to try to capture these on camera.  Here is a picture of Christy and Samantha, who is in her "I love my auntie" outfit that Christy bought for her.

Samantha and Roscoe have also had some good bonding time lately, especially since they both have the same favorite pastime as seen in this picture.  :)  Roscoe has done a great job with having Samantha around.  We weren't quite sure how he would handle having a crying baby around, but he largely seems to ignore her.  There are even some times at night that I find him laying right by her bassinet, almost like he is protecting her.

Samantha has been a great night sleeper so far, which is such a blessing to us.  She has been regularly giving us 4-5 hours at the beginning of the night for a couple weeks now.  However, Samantha continues to be an early bird and wakes up with the sun in the morning.  Oftentimes, if I can't get her to fall back asleep in her bassinet, I will bring her into bed with me, and we snuggle until it is time to get up for the day.  She is just so adorable sleeping in a "big girl" bed that I have to include a picture of her.

Samantha has been holding her head up by herself really well lately, as you can see in this picture.  We can often carry her around without having to worry about supporting her head too much.  However, the thing Ben and I have enjoyed most in the last week are her big toothless grins that we get on a regular basis now.  She seems to recognize our voices and our faces, her eyes with brighten, her cheeks will scrunch up, and her smile will be all gums!  However hard things are sometimes in parenthood, I don't think anything can beat the feeling you get when your child looks at you like that.