Home again.

Hello everyone. We returned from our trip to Rainey Lake yesterday, picked up our dogs in East Lansing, and then got back to the house here in Ann Arbor at about 6:00 PM. I think it's safe to say that all three of us had a fantastic time . . . each for different reasons.

1) Brian learned to sail! Using an 18-foot sailboat with no motor, he spent a couple of learning sessions out on the lake with my Dad, and shortly thereafter was able to go out on the lake on his own. I know that he got an enormous kick out of learning to do this, and the wind gradually increased throughout the week, so he also was able to increase his challenge level day by day.

2) I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I will not even come close to writing down any spoilers here, but I will say that both my sister Joanna and I were wrong when we made our little wager on the ending. :)

3) Maia's first two teeth appeared! We know that she's been very drooly and intent on chewing everything for several weeks now, but we couldn't actually see or feel teeth. Well, they're here now. She's got both incisors on her bottom jaw; you can see just a little bit of the white now, but only if she's crying or if she cooperates by moving her tongue out of the way. Because she only cried twice in this last week and also doesn't seem thrilled with us peeking into her mouth, I've only had one good look at her teeth. I certainly can feel them, though, both when I'm touching her gums with my finger and when we're nursing. Ouch!

4) Maia has really started to do the classic baby "babble." She's repeating syllables in a much more staccato way; it's the "ba-ba-ba" or "ga-ga-ga" pattern that's that standard, familiar pattern of baby speech. She'll even do a "bla-bla" from time to time, which is really funny. (We've started calling her Bob Loblaw when she does that. Any Arrested Development fans out there??) She was very talkative during the course of the week, which seems to indicate that she was very comfortable hanging out with everyone there. When she's unsure of a situation or is meeting unfamiliar people, she'll go into what I call "submarine mode," meaning that she goes silent for a while and just assesses the situation from a distance. Perhaps she's a bit of an introvert, like me--I do that type of thing, too.

5) She really gets a kick out of playing under a sheet. It's really hilarious to see her sitting up, covered in a sheet, with all four of her limbs flailing around in excitement. It makes for a great game of "Peek-a-Boo" as well.

6) Finally, her sleep was just fine. We had a couple more fretful nights than normal, but we just have no idea if that's due to the new environment or the teeth. We'll never know. She slept for 10.5 hours last night, and I actually had to wake her up for the sake of my own physical comfort. So, clearly, we're doing just fine with the sleeping! I'm officially taking that particular topic off the table unless something changes!! :)

That's all for now. Please check our usual photo website for pictures of vacation.

From Rainy Lake --...