Better late than never...

Okay, so it's taken a while, but for all you Maiya fans, here's an update! It seems like the days just get by us and we don't get anything posted here!

Maiya enjoyed her first Chesley Lake experience at the beginning of July. My family has been going every year for over 40 years now I think. Lots of 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 2nd once removed, etc. cousins, and aunts & uncles of various generations were there - some meeting Maiya for the first time. The weather was a bit cold for the last half of the week, but we made it to Sauble a couple times at least. Maiya definitely loves being in the water and at the beach! She especially liked grabbing handfuls of Uncle Craig's chest hair when he took her in the water!

Poppa & Grandma Heise were in the area for holidays last week & enjoyed an overnight visit. Maiya kept Poppa entertained at the mall while Grandma & Mommy shopped! It worked out great! We're off to the "Back Bay" on the long weekend for Grandma & Grandpa Clarkson's traditional camping weekend with their "old" university friends - another tradition that spans at least 3 decades! I'm sure they're looking forward to introducing her!

Maiya hit the 8 month mark on the 28th. It's hard to believe it's been 2 1/2 months since we first met her. It seems like yesterday & forever at the same time. She's talking up a storm these days - saying "dadada" lots - but it applies to everything, not just Brett, so he can't claim it as her first word just yet! Her first tooth came through on the bottom when we were at the cottage. Another one looks like it's arriving any day now too. Her hair is filling in - now it pretty much sticks straight up! She's sitting up without support & is almost crawling. She has the back end working, but hasn't quite coordinated the hand movements at the same time. She loves to walk around while holding onto your hands & loves dancing whenever she hears music. She's imitating sounds, and has almost mastered the "bye-bye" wave. We think she's brilliant and of course, we're not biased at all!

Will post some pics of the long weekend next week...

7 months & growing!

Hard to believe, but Maiya has now passed her 7 month birthday. She just came back from her 2nd pediatrician's appointment and now weighs 14 lbs 4 oz, and is 25 inches long. She's still in the 10th percentile for weight & 50th for height, so is moving up the growth charts just fine, even though she's on the small size for weight (although if you carry her around long enough, she doesn't feel very small!). As you can see, her latest look is a very big pout - except that she uses it when she's checking something out, not when she's actually pouting!

We were back home for the long weekend - had a visit to Poppa's & Grandma's farm. She loves the swing, and of course had to have a ride on Poppa's John Deere "tractor".

Celebrated her first Canada Day with a bunch of the Brussels crew, thanks to Jimmy & Sarah for hosting a "meet & greet" for her. Also had her first visit to Great Grandma Myra's cottage on June 30th - and you can see in the picture that one visit from Maiya brings both her Grandma Trish & Great Grandma Myra to their knees!

Maiya finally got to meet her Uncle Scott, and met Uncle Matt last week too. She decided they were quite okay, and will make good playmates in the future.

She's rolling around lots now, and ends up in different places than where we left her - the other night she had rolled herself up to the suede glider we have and was trying to chew on the bottom edge of it. She loves to stand up while you hold her hands, and is starting to stand while holding onto the edge of the couch.

Off to Chesley Lake for a week at the cottage next week, so we're looking forward to seeing lots of aunts, uncles and cousins up there!