Slowly but surely I am making progress with my granddaughter Maia.

Maia was born on St. Patrick’s Day last year, which is interesting since her Opa is half Irish himself. During her visit to Mobile this month, she seemed to take a real liking to her Opa. That’s fine with her Opa. She didn’t mind being held by her Opa right after he had gotten up and before he had showered and shaved. Now that’s quite remarkable for a young lady! Maia has difficulty speaking words if the first letter is a vowel, so "Opa" is "Bopa" for the time being. At times she walks through the house repeating Opa’s new name several times, apparently looking for me. Maia has made friends with our dog Sue, who can be somewhat sensitive to new visitors. However, Sue’s positive attraction to Maia is easily explained. When Maia walks around with a cookie or something else in her hand, she holds it right about the height of Sue’s head, so Sue is getting lots of extra treats during this visit.