Curling toes that try to grab; tiny chubby fingers that have difficulty navigating at first, but then get a death grip that can’t be budged, the grip surprisingly strong. It’s these little things that we’ve forgotten over time that Aliya is now reminding us of. She’s really working on her motor skills and figuring out what those little hands attached to her chubby little arms are for. She still likes the finger puzzle (a term we coined when she interlocks her fingers and stairs at them intently wondering how and what they are), but she’s moved on to liking baby rings, watches, and any other baby-hand-sized object to grab, grip, explore, turn around, and bring up to her mouth. Yep, she’s started the quasi-teething. Maybe it’s real teething, but basically she’s started exploring things by sticking them in her mouth and producing inordinate amounts of drool.

Aliya continues to be completely entertained by her sisters. When she sees Keana or Maia dancing or jumping around—or generally acting crazy—she busts out laughing. It is the cutest thing. It’s not just a giggle but more of a bellowing baby laugh. Her sisters love to see how she’ll react almost as much as they love holding and squeezing her. The fact that Aliya’s beginning to sit up better and develop more of her core body strength definitely helps with being held by Keana and Maia who aren’t always, how should we say, stable. Also, Aliya actually enjoys “tummy time” for a while and can roll herself over onto her back when she gets up on her strong little arms. She continues to be very mellow and quite smiley, even to nosey strangers.

In other news, Maia and Keana had their first voluntary sleepover at Grandma Jennie’s house last night. They stayed at Grandma’s when Sarah and I were with Aliya in the hospital in San Francisco, but of course that wasn’t exactly something they chose. So we watched the Giants secure their place in the World Series, then said goodnight. Keana had a little trouble saying goodbye, and we assured her she didn’t have to stay if she didn’t want to, but when Maia decidedly said she wanted to stay and sleep there, Keana quickly decided that was really what she wanted to do too. We took Aliya home and it was very, very quiet. I sort of liked it and sort of didn’t. I was quickly thinking of what life would be like when they started sleeping over at friend’s houses or stayed out late doing who-knows-what. But I did sleep until 8 a.m., with no interruptions, something that hasn’t happened in ages, and it felt great. It seems like the girls had a blast too, so it was a win-win.

Oh, and Keana is on the verge of loosing her first tooth. She has several loose, and this one’s been loose for a while, but it’s finally, almost there. She’s in no hurry to get it out though, and certainly doesn’t want any discomfort, so it’s basically holding on by a proverbial thread. It’s so loose it can stay sideways, but yet she’s not quite ready for it to come out. Of course we don’t want to damage any trust by yanking it out without her permission or her being totally okay with it, so we wait. It’s her tooth, it’s her call. Maybe tomorrow.