HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDIO!

Oh yes: today is the day Daddio was born, 43 short years ago! As the story goes, he was overdue so his dad had to put his mom on the back of the motorcycle and bump along the road to coax baby Jack out. Needless to say, it worked and Jack C. loves motorcycles and responds rather favorably to adrenaline.

Daddio has been gone alot in April, May and June, and when he's not gone often he's working 7 days per week. We all miss him, let me tell you! Jack just got home yesterday (at 4 AM) from his last trip. He had taken athletes Aris (javelin) and Sharon (high jump) to USAs. The nice folks of the Assosciated Press and Trackshark took these snapshots earlier this month.

This past Monday was my 8th day without Vanessa's father around. It showed. Nessers had a day of feeling particularly grumpy and moany and I pretty much had to jostle her all day long. That made me grumpy and moany, and I began to feel very down and was certain I was the worst mama on the planet. I couldn't get Thing One done around the house, I couldn't console my baby at all, and I couldn't take care of myself. It was a bad scene. Luckily, I got a chance to catch up with Maribeth, who assured me it was all normal, we had a good laugh, and I got through the day without having call 911 for a bathroom break or even a pizza.

Tuesday morning I got up and there was Jack, asleep in bed, and the mere sight of him back home was inspiration and motivation all in one. I sprang out of bed, flew through the morning chores with a smile on my face, whipped the house back into shape, and greeted him with a fresh cup of coffee when he got up. He's like magic.

So we are all very happy he came into the world, and today is the day I thank his mother, Granny Ernestine, for "going on to Number 7." And today and every day I let Vanessa know she is one lucky chica to have Jack for her Dad.

Today we are having a low key celebration. He slept in, I made him breakfast, and he held his best girl, Nannerkins, before work. Today he's meeting Sharon for a work out to help her prepare for the Pan Am Games. He brought his high jump shoes to challenge her to a jump-off. At one time Jack could jump 7' 3" and Sharon - who is currently ranked #2 in the nation - has jumped as high as 6' 4", but she's 22 and Jack is, well, nearly twice her age today. You go, Daddy!

JUNE 22nd - SIX MONTHS OLD TODAY!

Oh my goodness me! Today our baby Nesser-Van-Loo-Hoo is a half year old. Can you believe it? We can't!

My mother is clearly unimpressed when I lament how huge my daughter is, and usually says, "Yes? So?" or, "Your sister-in-law would only take 2T sized clothes because her babies were so big." But Mom, your babies all started out at 10 lbs. Vanessa has tripled her size in six months. Normal babies triple their size in 12 months. And true, she's only in size 18 month clothes now, but remember when we had to run out and buy her preemie clothes when we first got her home? I swear if we try we can hear her growing.

This surely explains why I've been homebound, hanging around the living room looking like an African tribeswoman, boobs out, perpetually nursing. Everyone said, "Newborns nurse every 3 hours." Yeah: right! Try every sixty minutes! In the words of our pediatrian, "I've never seen anything like this in all my years in practice."

Of course I am referring to the break-neck growth spurt of the first three months. Once upon a time, Vanessa weighed 6 lbs. 12 oz. and I was worried that her skin was hanging off her. Not so worried about that any more, really.

We see Nessa is quite social and has a great sense of humor. She laughs and laughs at Milo wrastling his toys and at a balloon we bat around. She is especially tickled when that balloon bonks her in the head. Vanny is also pretty physical. She continues to use her monkey toes to grip surfaces and uses both monkey feet to pinch me until I bruise or nab her toys. Her hands are always busy - from Day 1 - swirling, stroking, grasping, conducting... what is she doing with them? Maybe she'll be a massage therapist one day.

I think she may have her Daddy's fast metabolism because when she starts nursing her head turns red and breaks out in sweat - firing up that digestion furnace, maybe. Granny Ernestine told me a baby's body isn't big enough to discharge excess heat, so their heads sweat. I guess Van's head has the most surface area of her body...

Looking back, this first six months has sailed by and also felt like an eternity. It's really fun getting to know this Vanessa. She clearly was born with her personality fully intact, and every week we understand more and more.

BIRTHDAY SEASON!

June is birthday season for us... the following greats celebrate their birthdays this month: Uncle Marky, Auntie Anne, Grandma Patty, Cousin Adrienne, Big Cousin Krista, Auntie Kathy, Grandpa Jim (RIP), and "Auntie" Ellen (the big 4-0 no less), and Daddio himself. Let's add some graduations to this list: Cousin Adrienne, Cousin Andy, "Cousin" Isaiah, and "Auntie" Nell a.k.a. "Auntie" Nellseykins. And, to keep things extra festive, we have our First Ever Father's Day celebration. Woo hoo!

In honor of these great people and their presence in her life, our wee Nannerkins (where do we get these names?) donned her rather impressive Birthday Suit and let the cameras roll. You can't tell, but Daddio and I are SO proud of her physique. Love the baby phat.

Developmentally, our Little Monkey Princess is up to some new tricks. Whilst mama was out getting some physical therapy, baby got hungry so Daddio whipped out the high chair, a jar of baby food and a measuring spoon (the closest thing to a baby spoon he could find). Vanny fans may recall we tried feeding her baby food when she was 4 months old, but she still had the spit-out reflex then, so we backed off. Well! Daddio brought the spoon of food to her mouth and she tasted it, num, num, num, and didn't cry. Second spoonful went to her mouth and Slurrrrrp! she sucked it up like breast milk. Third spoonful came at her and she sceeched, flapped both arms, grabbed the spoon with both hands and pulled food, spoon and both fists into her mouth. After that, it was evident she loves to eat. In fact, she was downright mad when Daddio couldn't supply more food fast enough. The food? Bananas, of course.

Here are photos of VanNestle tasting one of the bright colors on her new bib. Can you see the determination she brings to each task? If you look closely you might see carrots up her nose. Not a lot of tastebuds inside the nose.

We've added the sippy cup and some sign language, too. So far, the sippy cup only has water in it for test driving. The recommendation is to start little babies with up to 3 signs. We've started "eat" but truthfully, Vanessa and mama seem to have that one covered, don't we now.

On Father's Day, Daddio strolled his wee Pit Bull daughter down to our local artisan bakery for some chocolate croissants. Baby Nessa wanted to try... the plate. Did I mention that absolutely everything goes into her mouth now?

Also this week VH1 rolled off the couch while mama was busy in the kitchen. Oops. But Nessa didn't cry, she was laughing about it. Thought it was some kind of new game, maybe. I do play "Physical Therapy" whereby I roll her around by her legs on the bed, but Jack thinks she just landed on her grand noggin and it tickled. (Both of our mothers let us roll off the counter when we were tots. It's a tradition.)

We've been trying to clean up around here. Mama got her hair done for the first time in seven months, we clipped Alley's claws and sponged off her fur, Milo got a bath, Max got a new collar, Chica got new toys, and even Daddio got a spiffy new 'doo. Nessers' hair is now officially the color of Milo's.

Vanessa now "pets" Alley. This involves running her fingers through Alley's fur, grasping it, and pulling it towards her. Since Van weighs three times what Alley weighs, the poor cat has to work hard to get away. In to Nessa's mouth go the hairy fingers, of course. I did catch Vanners looking at Alley and blowing raspberries: I think she was trying to say, "Kitty-kitty-kitty-kitty!" It worked - Alley came over and Nessers let out a monkey screech of delight.

IT'S ALL IN HER HEAD

Another week of fun with Little Miss Vanessa and we can hardly believe it. More and more we are getting comments on her size. I lack perspective on this. So I checked a wonderful interactive growth chart that let me know she is in fact a Giantess. She's long, yes, but she's above the 100th percentile in weight (if Jack weighed her correctly), and way, way above the 100th percentile in head circumference. Her noggin is 47 cm at 5.5 months. This either means she's going to be really smart or really dumb.

Daddio has been traveling so Granny Ernie came down to keep us company and give my aching arms a break. We laughed and laughed and caught some fun on film. See Nesserkins giggling at Granny singing and shaking a cup of ice. She seems to love music and percussion...

Vanny is so funny: she doesn't know the difference between her hands and feet. I often find her manipulating two toys at a time, one by feet (and the other by mouth). When we lift her in or out of her car seat, high chair, or Baby Frankenstein machine, she grips the edges with those monkey toes and won't let go. Is she trying to give me a work out? When I crack up, she looks at me like, What?

She's not yet six months old, but I couldn't resist some "Before and After" shots of her development over the past 24 weeks.

You see Van here in her co-sleeper, but she really sleeps in bed with us. The minute she came home from the hospital I began teaching her "gas relief" techniques by pushing her knees to her chest. Well by Jove, she's a good little learner. We start every morning with some gas relief. This morning I looked over and said, "Good morning little one!" She smiled up at me, lifted one leg and gave me a toot back.

What?

LET'S GO FOR A STROLL

Hello, Vanessa fans! We've had a bit of a pause from our on-line communication! Here's what Little Miss Vannerkins has been up to...

Since our last blog entry we've been taking walks. Van used to hate them, but see us having fun in our neighborhood on a family walk? For all of us, Nessa is the main attraction.

Nessa is so big, we went ahead and ordered her up a brand new car seat and a big girl umbrella stroller. She's a bit small for both, but we have no doubt she'll be filling them out soon. See Daddio manning the stroller at a local art fair...

Mama has joined a walking group with some of the mothers she met at our birthing (lamaze) classes. It's helpful Vanny is starting to like walks and strollers, since I have a bulging disc in my back. While I was getting a nice massage at the sports club, Daddio took Vanessa and Milo for a walk in the Baby Bjorn. An older gentleman on a golf cart paused to chat. He pointed to Milo and said, "He looks like he might have a little pit bull in him." Yes, Daddio said, people have wondered about that before. Then he pointed to our wee Nessers, who was snoozing on Daddio's chest with only her generously endowed legs visible and said, "Now that one, he's ALL pit bull!" And with a nod and a wink he buzzed off. Jack and I are still laughing at that one!

When VH1 isn't impressing old men, she's hanging out with her managerie. Yes, yes: she has the entire household wrapped around her chubby monkey digit. She is now chortling regularly at her golden brother Milo. Her eyes bug out, her arms flap, and she catches her breath whenever she spies rickety old Alley slinking through the room. To say that the pets like the Vanessa child is a gross understatement. They, um, adore her.

I've been so enthused about being able to walk with VanNestle in a stroller (rather than in my arms, straining my aching back) that I ventured downtown with her. It was lovely. Lovely, that is, until she started to scream. You see, it was so very interesting she forgot to fall asleep. Then she was over-tired and hungry. By the time I got to the Mission, about one mile from home, I had to sit on a park bench to nurse her. She was inconsolable by this point, and quite the spectacle.

Luckily, there was a brisk marine wind whipping through the streets of downtown, so, as I very demurely covered my bare chest to attach my screaming, writhing, red-faced infant to her food source, the wind repeatedly managed to lift the corner of my nursing blanket and press it all over my face. Several times. My bosom, belly, and howling monkey daughter were very much exposed during all this. I smiled my way through it all, as I attempted to wrangle my 20 lb. Tasmanian Devil with one hand and quickly shield my shining white body parts with the other. Did I mention I was downtown on a public bench? Let's just say there are no photos of that, and no, we've not ventured downtown again.