Another big milestone for Isobel this week - on Wednesday she finally learned how to roll herself over, so she now has a whole new perspective on the world. Lying on her back is now "just so last week", and she is now spends more of her awake time on her tummy than on her back. Our little munchkin is mobile ... time to start thinking about putting all our DVDs up high .

There has been a significant downside to this new-found mobility, however - her sleep schedule is now completely shot! Naptimes and bedtimes have become an ordeal, when we put her down in her crib she rolls over and into the rails on the side. She can only flip one way at the moment, so she gets herself stuck and freaks out. Her nice, predictable schedule of three or four naps a day is now down to one or two if we're lucky, and we're using every page in the parent tactics manual to try and get her to sleep. It'll take a little while for us to work through this latest hurdle - poor little tike, we can see she's tired but it's all still a bit strange for her. At least we've only had one night of broken sleep so far ... *touch wood* !!

Andy also had some success this week - we had a bit of a gathering here on Friday to ceremoniously fire the Mustang engine for the first time after being rebuilt. There were a few minor timing adjustments to be made before she roared to life - but with the mufflers on the floor of the garage, it was a noisy thing when it finally got started!! The fellow Mustang owners from work were most impressed, and they all had fun poring over parts catalogs and planning the next round of improvements on the various vehicles.

We were invited to an Australia Day BBQ with Rob and Tubi last night, with everyone decked out in Australian gear. Isobel's Aussie shirts from Granny & Granddad were a little too big this time, but will be a good fit next year if she keeps growing the way she has been - even some of her 6mo outfits are getting a bit small!

We had a late brekkie at Ruby's in Redmond this morning, we were seated in the dud table right by the front door but had a good view of the two trains circling on the train track suspended from the ceiling. Isobel spotted the trains a couple of times and watched them go past with great interest - funny to watch her staring intently and tracking perfectly, nothing wrong with her eyesight!! She was kind enough to let Mum & Dad get a coffee for the trip home, and we had plans to duck up to North Bend and get her some bigger clothes - but her nap turned into a five-hour sleep, so that'll have to wait for another time.

Super Bowl week here this week, and we've been invited to watch the game with some friends in Magnolia. Hopefully we'll have Isobel's sleeping schedule somewhat back to normal by then so we can attend!!

Pretty quiet week for us this week, as we were somewhat housebound waiting for last week's snow to melt off. Then we had another snowfall on Monday night, so Andy got another snowday on Tuesday - three in five business days, a record for us! We're back to the usual Seattle drizzle and cloud cover now, so we can see the grass again - time to finally bring in the Christmas decorations today.

I had my first crochet guild meeting for the year on Monday night - Andy was kind enough to drop me off, as the roads were still a bit icy around home and I wasn't game to drive myself. We did the scarf exchange we were supposed to do before Christmas (had to cancel as the power was out all over Seattle), and caught up with where everyone had been for the holidays. I've been (s)elected as secretary this year, so I've got a bit more responsibility - but I'm happy to give a little back after having so much fun over the last year or so.

Isobel has had a mixed week this week - I think we threw her routine out a little on Monday. Andy had to wake her up to come and pick me up from the guild meeting, so her evenings have been a little rough since then. She's woken up at night a couple of times during the week, but she's still getting a good six hours or so at a stretch. She's almost getting a little big for the baby carrier, probably because we're layering her up before we take her outdoors while it's still cold. Andy's started carrying her around as a result, and she seems to enjoy the change in perspective from his shoulder - not a peep, just looks around and takes in the scenery.

She's also getting *so close* to rolling herself onto her tummy on her own - still gets her arm in the way, but I don't think she's got long to go now. Her hands are getting very articulate too, going "scritch scritch scritch" and checking out the different textures of whatever shirt or jumper we're wearing. She's starting to reach around and find toys placed off to her left or right while on her playmat, so we don't have to hold them in front of her anymore, but she can get a little frustrated if her favourite toy of the minute is tethered to the frame!

I finished off my crochet jacket during the week, after having to make a few modifications - lopped four inches off the sleeves, and widened them a bit so I can wear it over a long-sleeve shirt. Fairly happy with how it turned out, even if I did have to re-do the sewing up a few times ... never one of my strong points. I've also nearly finished weaving in all the ends on the bargello afghan, and the yarn has arrived for the hexagon one which is next on the list. I'm being very good and not starting the next one yet, or I'll completely lose interest in all the fiddly stuff I still have to do!

It's also fifteen years today since we both signed up for the blue uniform - hard to believe the time has flown so fast! The Firm has been pretty good to us, four degrees between us and two overseas postings for Andy. If you'd told me then I'd be living in the US with a little American of our own, I'd never had guessed .

We're actually getting the long weekend this week for Australia Day, and it sounds like a few folks from work are planning a push to the slopes - how else would you celebrate Australia Day but go skiing? Yet to decide whether we'll go yet, but it's an intriguing idea ...

The weather is again playing havoc here in Seattle - after surviving the wettest month ever last November, and the windstorms in December, this week we had over three inches of snow in only a couple of hours ... and the temperatures have barely cracked 0degC since. The snow is still thick on the ground around home, and the hill on our little street is a bit dicey - so Isobel and I are confined to quarters until the weather starts melting things.

Isobel had her four-month checkup on Monday - she's now up to 16lbs 6oz, so she's more than doubled her birthweight and is up around 90-95th percentile. She's also grown to 25" long, which is 6" longer than her length at birth. She's growing so quickly, it's hard to remember how small she was when she was born - even though it was only a few months ago.

The forecasters had predicted snow for Tuesday, and received a bit of flack in the media when only a very light covering overnight. Turns out they were off by a day - I called Andy at work at 4pm on Wednesday when I started seeing 'bean bag' snow fall in the backyard - it looked like little polystyrene beads. Normally it takes Andy about 40mins to get home on his own, as he can't use the HOV lanes anymore - this time it took him FOUR HOURS!! 4WD mode all the way. Isobel and I watched the cars crawl past on the main road outside our house, trying to get down to the 520. The news showed footage of cars slipping and sliding on the ice, and running out of fuel idling along the freeways - luckily Andy had taken the Durango and it had a full tank. See what happens when you wish for a snow day?!

Andy and I took Isobel out for a walk on Thursday, down to the nearby shops to get some lunch and some little bits and pieces. The snow and ice was too much for the stroller, so we zipped Isobel into her snow suit and Andy carried her the whole way - about two miles there and back. We could see kids with their toboggans sliding down the hill in one of the nearby parks, which looked like a lot of fun - must have been better than school, anyway. Isobel had so much fun looking around from her perch on Andy's shoulder - not a peep from her the whole way. We stopped in at Uwajimayas for lunch, after deciding the slope down to Safeway was a bit steep. Yummy chinese food and fried rice, just the thing on a cold day!

It was still too icy in our street on Friday to make it out, so Andy took another snow day - the main suburban roads were pretty good, but our street was still very slick. We made a start on deconstructing the Christmas decorations inside, sorting all the wooden stuff to one side for Customs to check when we head home at the end of the year, so they don't have to rat through everything.

On Saturday we managed to get out of the street and out to the infant massage class I booked last week. We had a lot of fun - Isobel loved the massage, and was fascinated by a little seven-month old girl sitting next to us. Very funny to watch her ignoring us and trying to make eye contact with the little girl ... hopefully that means she'll be a sociable little thing as she grows older!

The Seahawks' run for the Superbowl this year has ended, and there's more snow forecast for this week. Hopefully the weather will improve soon and some of the snow will start melting off!

We've taken a big step this week, and returned the lounge room to it's pre-baby configuration. The portacot was invaluable for the first couple of months after Isobel was born, but (apart from a couple of nights last month when the power was out) she hasn't used it in weeks. We found the bag and eventually remembered how to fold it up and stuff it away, and put the side table back by the couch - I have somewhere to put my coffee again!

This leaves me with somewhat mixed feelings - while she's still only four months old, we're looooonnnnnggggg past the point where I can put her down for a nap in the same room as other people, or a noise source like the TV. I've even had to start taking her upstairs to her room for her feeds, after she developed the habit of "suck, suck *, look, look" - which would be fine if she would just unlatch at the *. I'm just lucky she's got a gentle latch to begin with ...

Our attempts at teaching her to put herself to sleep are progressing - better now that her rainforest mobile (which lights up and runs for 10mins!) is off the portacot and upstairs to replace the little Pooh mobile we had there. Nothing wrong with Pooh and friends, but it's a windup and only goes for a couple of minutes ... usually ends in tears when the music runs out. She still likes being wrapped in her swaddle me blankies, but she's too tall now to do the legs up - this sometimes means she can propel herself from the bottom of the cot to the top working herself into a bad mood. However, there's a simple pleasure to be gained from hearing her wake up, have a bit of a chat to herself (or the monkey on the mobile - who knows?) and then drift off to sleep again.

We're even seeing a bit of a routine developing - she melts down about two hours after each nap, a little earlier in the morning and a little later in the evening. I've given up trying to put her to bed at 7-8pm for the moment, and we're all less stressed for it - she's napping for 2-3hrs at a stretch each time, and 8hrs+ overnight. I don't mind having a baby that sleeps until 8.30am or so - and I know it won't last forever, so we're making the most of it while we can.

Isobel has her 4 month well-child appointment with Dr Tiffany tomorrow - four more shots, hopefully she'll manage as well as she did last time. We've also signed up for an infant massage course next week. I'm about 30% of the way through weaving in the ends on my bargello afghan, which I'm actually enjoying - must be the obsessive compulsive in me, normally I hate finishing off! I've found my next project for the Fair here, just waiting for the book to arrive with the pattern so I can order the yarn. In the meantime, however, I'm going to attempt my first real bit of clothing ... more than just a scarf this time. Wish me luck!