Ann - I think the key to happy day care is just distraction. If she's playing with something and then cries then she might like something a bit more familiar from home. i know its not a good idea to take toys to kindy because they go walking, but something cheap could help. She'll definately get better and better, and will start recognising kids each time she goes and they'll become a comfort too. One problem to watch for is high staff turnover, which is a fact of life at kindy, but just watch that she doesnt get too upset should they keep getting new staff, that can be really really disconcerting for kids.
As for the sleeping thingy, I think she kinda just worked it out herself, it took months tho (sorry!!) I think i found the best thing was to go in and quietly say 'lay down, you're ok' (or whatever you say normally) and just gently lay her back down. then during the day when we play we 'practise' laying down. so now when she's in her cot and she stands up i can say lay down and she knows what it means. i dont know if ella's the same but evie's usually half asleep when she stands (tho it was crawling posie) and cries because she's confused. ella might take to sleeping on her tummy and you can just "push" her down onto her tummy and then thats something she can easily do without you.
HTH