CREEPY-CRAWLY-KINS

This week the fun has been non-stop, especially with our cousins visiting. Nessers is creeping a little bit more each day and blows us away with how much more mobile she is this week than the first week of July when we were together with Jack's family in Santa Cruz.

Now wee Nannerkins regularly demonstrates her newfound ability to form an infant tripod - either two knees down or two arms down. She also gets into push-up position on her monkey toes and, if I'm nearby, can do a modest wheel barrow. More recently, she's pivoting all around to access objects within a sizeable radius. Her Daddy noted Vanny's tongue hangs out when she's concentrating - "A Gene Simmons tongue," I think he said.

It used to be Nessa could only creep backwards unless she was trying for her #1 toy, Alley Cat. Alley drapes herself on the carpet near Van and then waits for her to huff and puff her way over to rip fur off her skinny sides and squeal in delight. This is the highlight of Alley's day.

Vanessa's #2 favorite toy is sand, glorious sand. Too bad we can't flop her down at the beach and let her go wild, but she's still putting every blessed thing into her mouth. [Milo continues to impress us with his ability to differentiate between his toys and Vanessa's when they are all over the living room floor. Vanners cannot tell the difference however, so yesterday I caught both of them nibbling on either end of one of Milo's chew toys.]

Daniel and Matthew have provided unlimited entertainment for all of us, Vanessa included. We took the trolley downtown to the Farmers Market and bumped into Baby Kennedy and her mom, Andrea who we've known since last fall - we met in our birthing classes. Andrea is one of the moms I meet for a weekly stroll.

In addition to VanNestle having her two closest cousins visit from Connecticut, my littlest cousin from Connecticut visited with his wife and two children. Cousin Pete, Becky, Molly (3) and Daniel (13 months) made the trek from Sacramento to visit the clan.

They tested our efforts to baby proof the living room like a couple of master-level ergonomists. Baby Daniel was up on the coffee table in two shakes of a monkey's tail, and Molly got herself trapped in the spare room under the desk behind three big boxes in under 15 minutes. VH1 can't wait to walk so she can try some Houdini tricks of her own.

Later we went to the Avila Farmers Market and sampled the local fare and the Pacific Ocean. Little Molly had bumped her upper lip climbing a wall, so she soothed it with some chocolate ice cream. See her here, looking a bit like the Les Miserables logo...

We thought nobody but nobody loved and pursued Milo like Matthew, but it was quite a sight to see Ye Olde Family Dog swarmed by Vanessa, Molly and Baby Daniel. The babies were drawn to him and he clearly loved them like they were his own puppies. He's so patient.

It has been very um, endearing to see my husband in action with some older children here at home. Somehow I believe his taking nephews Daniel and Matthew around hiking, surfing, dog walking, fishing, roasting marshmallows, tossing the football, and playing cards is a preview of Vanessa's future. Lucky girl! See the males cluster at the end of the day, here:

Daddio takes Van into the sea with her wetsuit and she comes back to me cold, hungry, sleepy and mute. I must admit, I love to receive her this way, beliving my job is to bundle her, feed her and coo her to sleep. This apres-surf nap is now my favorite time of all with her.

She has been having so much fun this week, she's been awake until 10 PM and sleeping in 'till 9 AM. All this stimulation is going straight to her generous-sized noggin. We already knew she was a party girl and an action monger... See her here, ending her day at the beach with Auntie Cyndi, playing a rousing game of swing and "Wheeeee!"