Milestones: 8 weeks (repost)

I have now been a mother for 8 weeks...which astonishes me. Can time have flown by that quickly? It seems like we just brought Lucy home from the hospital, just had her first check-up, just took her downtown to introduce her to people...and already she's 8 weeks old, nearly 2 months. The funny thing is how many milestones we've reached since she was born. And how our lives had very few milestones before she was born.  For example: Before Lucy milestones: Dating, getting engaged, moving to a new state, getting a new job, buying a house, getting married, getting pregnant, paying something off....all pretty big things that didn't exactly happen several times a week.  Now... After Lucy milestones: Sleeping 2 hours, getting the hang of nursing, sleeping 3 hours, losing the umbilical cord, getting a nap, Lucy's first bath, sleeping 4 hours, Lucy's first obviously-on-purpose smile, getting Lucy to take a nap in her crib for the first time, sleeping 5 hours...etc. It seems like something big happens nearly every day! Making it to 2 weeks was big because that's when things stopped hurting so much and sleep started to come in slightly larger chunks so I could enjoy parent hood more.  Making it to 4 weeks was big because, hey! That's one month! Making it to 6 weeks was really big because that's when they are safe to travel on airplanes and pretty much any other way, and the US government says they are a grown-up baby and don't need their mom full-time anymore, so mom should go back to work now and put the baby in daycare. (Thankfully we are able to ignore that last one for the time being) Now at 8 weeks I can't believe the change I've seen in Lucy just in the past 7 days. It is truly mind-boggling to me. She has greeted both Jason and I with a I'm-really-happy-to-see-you good morning smile She slept for an 8 hour stretch two nights in a row! (mom didn't, but Lucy doing it was a start!) She laughed at mom's funny voice she woke up at 6 in the morning and put herself back to sleep until 7:30, then entertained herself until 8:00 She stayed awake through several car rides she watches our faces as we talk and moves her mouth like she's trying to figure it out herself She has discovered her voice and started practicing with it, 'talking' to toys, pictures, and people...which is pretty much the cutest thing ever.  All of this in just the past week! I can't believe how big of a deal everything has become since she came along. I guess I never imagined watching someone grow and change so quickly. I'm not ready to parent a teenager, but I feel like we'll be there in a couple of heartbeats.  Someone slow down time please!!!!