My parents came down from Pennsylvania this weekend to see their granddaughter. Mom's got a bit of a reputation with grandchildren: she tends to need to hold them all the time. She held Colette for most of her visit yesterday and this morning. Dad held her a bunch too, even though she was asleep most of the time.

Colette has begun to change. Her eyes are open wider and she seems to focus much more than she did just three days ago. She smiles spontaneously in her sleep and even seems to be on the verge of a smile when I pick her up after a nap. I'm sure this last observation is one of those parent-biased ones -- to everyone else she doesn't seem to smile -- but I'm going to believe it anyway.

Last night was probably our best night of sleep so far. We're still sticking with the 'sleep during the morning and afternoon, wake up in the evening and have massive feedings' strategy. Last night she didn't go to bed until 1 AM – Jean and I watched most of Saturday Night Live with Bill Murray – but she had almost five ounces of formula before she went to bed and didn't wake up until 5 AM this morning.

I find it difficult to describe how much I love my daughter. I don't want to fall into the clichés I always hear from other parents, despite how true those clichés feel now. Tonight while trying to catch up on e-mail messages and other real world pursuits, I turned to see her in the bouncy seat next to my desk. She wasn't there – we'd put her in the Moses basket for another brief nap, and I'd forgotten. But for just a second I felt a pang of loss that surprised me. And I guess that's it: Colette keeps surprising me with how much I love her.

Tomorrow I start back at work. Jean and Colette will drop me off tomorrow morning. It will be a busy week, with at least two very important meetings, and half a dozen significant projects that have been waiting for my attention. I suspect that once I'm back at my desk I'll switch my focus for many productive hours of work. But in those brief pauses when I try to think of what I want to tackle next, her face will flash in my mind. And from now on I'll be coming home to Jean and Colette, and I'll be hearing about both of their days.