WHO IS A WHOLE MONTH OLD?

Yes, Little Miss Vanessa has hit both the four week mark and also the one month mark. To show her excitement, she's kept her mama and Daddio extra busy.

Her Grandma Patty left on a jet plane last Wednesday at the crack of dawn. Didn't that disrupt the daily routine? Oh yes, it did. We all miss her extra help and motherly comfort. Of all people in the world who have license to give us parenting advice, she restrained herself. She never questioned our techniques or decisions and didn't offer advice. Talk about a confidence booster! I wish I could grow up to be that clever a mom to Vanessa.

Vanessa, in keeping with my letting my mother fly away, let her umbilical cord drop off the same day. Thank goodness that thing went! It was crusty and full of cooties and I for one am elated that it's gone. In its place is an adorable little navel that looks very much like a cinnamon roll without the cinnamon.

Daddio had a pair of speaking engagements at a national sports conference in L.A. this past Saturday, so we took the opportunity to test Nessa's ability to road trip. We grabbed the diaper bag, a thermos full of frozen breast milk, and strapped VH1 into her car seat - for 12 hours straight. Lucky for us, our Little Monkey Princess is lulled to sleep by the bump and hum of the California highway system. She did have a melt down or two, but they were heat- and digestion-related, and both passed.

After Nessa's third week of life, I found her to be sturdy enough to put her on the teat while I lie in bed without fearing so much that I'd roll over and kill her. This has made our wee hour feedings loads easier. Everyone is happier. Even so, I continue to be on milk duty every 2 hours and sometimes every hour. When Nessa nurses for 15-30 minutes at a pop the every-hour schedule leaves precious little time after burping and diapering to nap, answer messages, or update blog sites, and pumping is out of the question.

I look frightful, by the way. Even so, I've made it out to a few County board meetings (my volunteer work) and will continue to try to do so. If nothing else, it ensures I switch out of my pyjamas at least once per week. Daddio commented that I'm "like a superhero" because in every photo and all day and all night I can be seen in the same (pyjama) costume - so everyone can recognize me. See me take the hint and upgrade to a tee shirt for around the house...