.

in celebration of bailey's 4-month birthday as well as her dad's thirty-something-or-other birthday, she went on her first vacation to sturgis, michigan. although we were nervous that she would have a "psycho bailey freakout" on the flight, she actually slept for both take-off and landing (knocking on wood). the 2.5 hr drive to sturgis from detroit wasn't as easy. since she was strapped into her carseat, it was our first experience of being stripped of our go-to soothing strategies. we couldn't pick her up, give her "carpet bumpies", bounce her, or take her for a stroll. nonetheless, we managed to get to sturgis just fine.

when we arrived, bailey was excited to see her grandma merry and grandpa david again. she made herself right at home with grandma and grandpa's books, pack-and-play, dolls, stuffed animals, and vegetable basin (which she used as a bathtub). the next day, she got to meet great grandma joy and great grandpa harry for the first time. she behaved quite nicely and tricked them into believing she was a "perfect" baby. :-)

as the weather cleared on day 3, we went to uncle john hunt's house for bailey's first swim. she wore grandma lam's fancy swimsuit and rather useless swimmer diapers. thanks to the well-heated temperature of the pool, bailey loved her first swim. we were convinced she thought it was a giant bathtub. after her swim, she lounged on the trampoline with grandpa david. then played a duet with him on the piano.

that night, her godparents (aunt denise and uncle john) arrived from detroit with one of her new favorite toys, penny the penguin. as bailey didn't want to miss her dad's birthday party, she didn't get to sleep until 11PM. she even helped dad blow out the candles. 

today, bailey went to church and "behaved" by falling soundly asleep. then we went to meet her uncle david, aunt erika and cousins brandon and kelsey. with all that activity, by the time we pulled out of gg joy and gg harry's driveway, bailey had most definitely been overstimulated. she fortunately slept most of the way to the airport. the plane ride back wasn't quite as smooth as the one going, but she was able to squeeze at least half an hour of entertainment out of a cool ranch doritos bag, a bottle of diet mountain dew, and the airline safety manual.

all-in-all, a wonderful first vacation!