Mio and I arrived in Virginia early Thursday morning, exhausted. Mio cried inconsolably for about fifteen minutes towards the beginning of the overnight flight, and although it was only fifteen minutes, it was the longest fifteen minutes of my life. I’m still uncertain about what was wrong with her, since I made sure to nurse her during takeoff and landing to make sure she didn’t get ear pressure problems. She slept for the last three hours of the flight, though, but I couldn’t sleep because I was afraid she’d slide off of my lap. The cabin of the plane was really hot, too, which made for a very uncomfortable five hours. Boy, was I relieved when we finally landed at Dulles Airport…. When we got to my parents’ house in Vienna, we just slept for several hours through the morning.

Mio got to meet some new members of Mommy’s family this time — my father, sister Miwa, and brother Kosei were all seeing her for the first time.

Miwa holding Mio
Mio met Auntie Miwa for the first time. She is already alarmed by her crazy aunt....

 

おじいちゃんと初孫
Meeting ojiichan for the first time.

 

My Dad passing Mio over to my Mom.
Happy grandparents with their first grandchild.

 

Mom holding Mio
My mom reunited with Mio. She was surprised by how much she'd grown!

 

being held by Auntie Miwa
Getting some love from Auntie Miwa.

 

Mio is awake this time
My Dad holding Mio again. A proud ojiichan!

 

rwide awake!
Mio wide awake from the excitement of meeting everyone!

 

I’m really happy to be back home in Virginia and am looking forward to the next two weeks that we’ll be spending here. We hope to spend a lot of time with family and friends, and just relax and enjoy our time here. It’s definitely summer here — hot and humid! I actually kind of missed the humidity of the Mid-Atlantic region, since this is the type of summer weather I grew up with!