MY! HOW SHE'S GROWN!

Auntie Susan, Uncle Jimmy and their baby daughters Adrienne and Julia (who are on spring break from college) came back this weekend to inspect wee Vanessa Lou Hoo. You may recall they were the first family to visit other than the grandmothers, way back in January.

Vanny came into this world looking eerily like cousin Adrienne as a newborn. Now, with a bit more meat on her bones, she's morphing into an eery copy of Julia as a baby. What on earth?

Here is a photo of Julia and VanNestle from Julia's first visit. Nessa is one week old.

And here they are together now, Week 13, and one of them is um, twice the size. Let's just say Julia did not gain the proverbial Freshman Fifteen this year at college, but Vanessa? Not waiting until college apparently.

Not to be outdone, brunette cousin Adrienne had a dimple-off with baby Vanessa. Adrienne noted Nessa used her monkey toes to grip the carpet whilst she demonstrated her Johnny-Jump-Up prowess. Adrienne has those monkey toes... but neither were posing for the cameras this weekend. However, see VH1 pose on the famed magic ball.

Here we are, the paparazzi, documenting a diaper change. No secrets here! Vanny simply loves to be changed. We think it's because she's always delighted to see her "baby sister" again in the mirror.

Also visiting were Auntie Susan and Uncle Jimmy. Auntie Susan is the one person who loves holding baby Nessa so much I, the mother, sometimes feel guilty when I'm holding her. It's a wonderful thing to know Susan never ever minds taking your baby, even when she cries.

Uncle Jimmy has to fight for a chance to hold his tiniest niece. He's right there with the camera, though, just as Nessa's grandfather Poppa would be if he were still roaming the earth with his many gadgets. We have Uncle Jimmy to thank for almost all of these photos.

Sneaking in on the visit was Granny Ernestine, who zipped down from her new digs. She hadn't seen baby Vanessa since her birthday party, a month ago, but that didn't matter to Van. When Granny came near or spoke, Nessa would grin ear to ear. She must know her voice! See Little Miss V. hanging out on the couch while cyber Granny catches up on her text messaging.