Spring has sprung - I'm always amused here when the weather forecaster is so precise about exactly when winter clicks over to spring! This time is was at 5.07pm on Tuesday, when the vernal equinox hit Seattle ... not a minute before or after. I think I prefer the calendar-based system at home, here I almost feel I've been cheated of three weeks of spring already!

The Mustang is back to Dave's shop for more work - rehang the exhaust, patch the floorpans, install new leaf springs, plus some miscellaneous other things that Andy just doesn't have time to do on his own. The tow truck arrived on Tuesday morning, so Andy didn't have to wake the neighbours by driving it down the street on just the headers.

Isobel's third tooth also appeared on Wednesday - top left lateral incisor, according to her baby book. A little out of order, apparently the top middle teeth are supposed to come in first! Still only pretty mild symptoms, but she's been chewing on her thumb a little the last few days when she's tired - checking out that funny new sharp thing in her mouth!

Solid foods are progressing - tried the pureed apple again a couple of times and she wolfed it down! So she seems to be getting the hang of this swallowing thing. She scarfed down an entire little container over two nights, and most of it actually went down her throat - apart from what was smeared all over her face, bib, hands, feet, chair ... she likes having a bit of control, so she often tries to grab the spoon from me - usually a bit too close to the end, so her fingers end up in the contents and then proceed to distribute it to everywhere else.

Much-anticipated opening of the new COBS bakery at Crossroads - a Canadian offshoot of Baker's Delight, and this is their first US store. The decor is all the same, so it looks very familiar and homey! We popped in on Tuesday after getting the Mustang sorted (Andy had taken the day off work), and we were tagged as Aussies before even entering the store - seems the staff were playing a game on their first day! The girl behind the counter had one question for us, "Microsoft or Boeing?" ... apparently they'd had lots of Aussies pop in to visit for their opening. I think they'll know us all before long. Still seemed a bit strange to be talking to Aussies behind the counter, ordering Farmer's loaves and proper bread rolls, in a real bakery ... but paying in US dollars!! It was great to get some real bread again - we're the closest ones to the store, so Andy's already been asked by a few folks at work if he'll take delivery requests for those living over in Seattle and Queen Anne!

Isobel hasn't quite got the knack of crawling yet - she's now regularly up on all fours, but hasn't progressed past rocking backwards and forwards ... before collapsing on her stomach again. She also loves being held up in the air over our heads, which makes her giggle like mad and flash her little teeth at us.

Andy departed again for Adelaide on Friday, for two weeks this time. Very frustrating for him to have to shuttle back and forth to crack the whip, it'd be nice if it wasn't necessary but apparently he has to be there to mediate and clarify. At least he didn't have to travel too much last year when Isobel was younger - we're both a bit more independant now, but Andy's worried he'll miss Isobel crawling. I'm under instruction to have a camera ready to go so I can email photos or a quick video.

The netball season kicked off on Saturday - and in typical Seattle fashion it rained the entire game. I think the weather discouraged lots of people from showing up, so I ended up subbing in for one of the competition sides instead of the 'social' team! Mel and Beth were kind enough to keep Isobel amused while I was out on the court getting drenched, she was very well behaved and only started getting grumpy towards the end of the last quarter. By then she'd been up for about three hours, so it was well past her naptime anyway. She also seems to be teething again, so I had to finally crack open the tylenol this time to dull the ache enough for her to drop off to sleep.

With Andy gone, I'm spending most of my spare time doing spring cleaning for our next house inspection on Tuesday afternoon. It's mostly done, I just have to do a bit of dusting and stash some purchases up in the attich until our return removal. The back yard is still rather windswept after the December storms, I think we'll end up hiring someone to maintain the yards for us with Andy travelling so much now... at least we'll only have one more inspection to go after that one!

Spring is almost sprung - apparently it starts here on Wednesday. The trees are budding and blossoming, and the pollen is billowing ... luckily Andy's hayfever hasn't been affected so far.

The seasons here seem to change really quickly. Since daylight savings clicked over last weekend, we've had some gorgeous afternoons with sunlight streaming in through the lounge room windows. I have to keep the wooden blinds adjusted so the sun doesn't shine in Isobel's eyes when she's playing on the floor, but what a difference it makes! Andy can even make it home before dark again ... most nights .

Isobel is well and truly mobile now, rolling all over the floor and now with a working range of several feet. We have to keep a bit more of an eye on her now ... and vacuum the floors more regularly! She's even learned how to pull some of the hanging toys from the loops on the arches of her playmat - how did she figure that out so quickly?! .

She'll no longer sit still for me to have her nappy changed any more, so I have to provide a toy or something for her to play with to keep her distracted. For some reason she likes one of the baby lotion tubes that sits next to her change mat - whenever I place her down, she'll arch and roll and try to reach the tube sitting in the corner. I think she likes the curvy edge along the top, and her teeth make a funny noise when she scrapes them on the plastic.

In other developments, crawling probably isn't far away - this week she's progressed from pushups (on her big toes only, mind you ... wish we could still do that!) to dragging her knees into a crawling position. She hasn't figured out how to go forwards yet, she still ends up pushing herself backwards or just rocking in place. She also has started to flail her arms around a bit lately, so her brain must be working on more arm/hand coordination at the moment.

I'm not sure if Isobel's starting to develop a bit of separation anxiety ... our baby books suggest it's possible around this age. She's sometimes give a bit of a wail if I move out of her line of sight, such as in the kitchen, because she can't see up over the couch! Bedtime is much improved over the last couple of weeks, though - apart from the wriggling and writhing on the change table, she now smiles at the sight of her bedtime story and usually drops off to sleep pretty quickly. She has been waking up during the night a few times over the last week, sometimes she goes back to sleep on her own but other times I have to pop in and give her a quick feed. Hopefully it's only a short phase she's going through at the moment.

Andy's off to Adelaide again at the end of the week - two weeks this time, but at least I'll get the car back! Not sure how I'm going to manage Isobel with netball on Saturday mornings, I might have to see if one of the spectator husbands can keep an eye on her while I'm on the court.

We're also planning another quick trip to Whistler for Easter - Andy's not getting back until Good Friday, so we'll take the following Tuesday off in return. We'll be meeting up with a few other Aussies from work while we're there, and Andy & I will take turns between hitting the slopes and babysitting Isobel. Easter is classed as 'late' season, so the prices are pretty reasonable - this is probably the last time we'll get in any skiing for a while! 

We've had a real mix of weather this week - some gorgeous days up around 20C, and back to the usual Seattle rain/drizzle by the weekend. I had another tryout for netball on Saturday and we were lucky to avoid being rained out. The committee will make up the team rosters over the next couple of weeks, and then the spring season starts at the end of the month. Looking forward to a few social games, as the competitive division is a bit beyond me!! A few more familiar faces this week, so it was great to catch up with some of my old workmates outside the office.

We had a couple of social gatherings during the week - a "Frognall" reunion on Tuesday night in Issaquah, which is just an excuse for the engineers to get together for a few beers and a meal. Got a lovely surprise to see my old boss again, over for a quick visit in his new capacity as consultant - great to catch up with him again. Isobel was again on her best behaviour, checking out all the new faces around the room. She started to get a bit loud towards the end of the night as she grew tired, but we'd much rather her being loud than dissolving into tears or screaming . We also popped into Seattle for a farewell yum-cha lunch on Friday ... Isobel had great fun trying to take the little portions from our hands, so we took turns with one of us keeping her amused while the other had something to eat. Lots more comments about how well behaved she was - we can't believe how lucky we are.

Another discovery this week - Isobel cut her second tooth on Tuesday! That made for two in just five days, a little quicker than we expected . She's been very lucky so far, no fevers or apparent pain from the teething - is it too much to hope that it'll continue?!

Isobel also had her six-month checkup with the doctor on Wednesday. She had great fun watching the fish swimming around in the tank while we waited for our appointment - full of 'Nemo' fish, so everything was very colourful. The weight gain at her last appointment has dropped off a little, but she's still growing like a weed - now 17lbs 2oz, and 27in tall! Obviously got Dad's height genes as well as eyes and hair! Four more shots this time - now that she's six months old, the nurse recommended we give her a flu shot - so one of her 'regularly scheduled' shots was bumped to the next appointment. Two in each leg is bad enough, we didn't want to have to give her one in an arm as well! We go back in another month for her second flu shot (assuming there's still stock left at the end of the flu season), and then she'll get her other scheduled shot at the nine month appointment in June.

We've made another couple of attempts at starting Isobel on solids - we did a run to the British Panty near our house to see if they stocked rusks - success!! We sat Isobel in her bumbo seat and gave her one, which she promptly demolished - she loved it!! They do disintegrate pretty quickly with all her drool, so we learned a valuable lesson - next time, in the high chair rather than on the carpet!! We're still finding bits of chewed up rusk today . Tonight we tried some pureed bananas, which were also a big hit - after a few spoons and a confused look, she figured out it was pretty tasty and started leaning towards the spoon as it was offered. I think this time we managed to get more in her mouth than down her shirt, so we'll keep going with them for another couple of days before trying something new. Dunno whether we'll try the cereal again - she's not a fan of formula to begin with, which probably explains why she didn't really take to it last week.

Andy also did a test fit tonight of the backpack carrier we bought last week - Isobel loves being up high and surveying her world! She sits back a fair way, but Andy said it was pretty comfortable ... but he's used to lugging a backpack full of camera gear, so she's pretty light in comparison! At least for a few months more ...

Finally, we're hoping to be able to book our Right Coast trip this week - there are some meetings that have popped up during the week, so Andy's trying to work a gap in the program to allow us to go. Would be very disappointing to put all the effort into planning a trip, only to have to cancel it before we can go.

Isobel's starting to get loud again, so it must be time to put her to bed ...

We thought we'd turned a corner this week with Isobel's sleeping - for a couple of weeks now she's been really unimpressed with any attempt to put her in her crib for a sleep. This has been somewhat stressful for me during the day - it's pretty tough to sit still while she whimpers for a few minutes before dropping off to sleep. She is dropping off more quickly however, so that's making things a little easier for both of us.

Isobel's big news this week was the appearance of her first tooth - Andy discovered it on Friday when she started gnawing away on one of his fingers, and he felt something sharp! She doesn't seem to know how to use it yet, for which I'm very grateful - not looking forward to being chewed on!! Our good luck continues, as her first tooth seemed to arrive with little incident - she'd been a little grumpy for the last day or so, but not enough to make us suspect any problems. The other front tooth doesn't seem far off either, so we might have a matching pair before long.

Isobel has also been giggling much more this week - we heard her first little laugh on Christmas Day, and after a couple of weeks of nothing she's now laughing to herself while playing on her mat in the lounge room. After rolling over onto her tummy, she'll pivot around and choose between a few different toys within reach - Lion and Piglet are definite favourites, and she'll put on a big smile when they're offered! Her hands are exploring much more, and she's tried a couple of times to rip the fixed butterflies from the top of the arches on her playmat - they're knotted in, but it doesn't stop her from having a good ole' yank! She's also started blowing raspberries, and loves it when we blow back - she was a bit surprised at first, but she's getting used to having silly parents by now  .

Spring has been teasing us with a couple of lovely sunny breaks during the week - the early afternoon sunlight is streaming in the window as I type now, and the extra light really brightens up our lounge room  - such a huge difference after relying on lamps for nearly six months. Even so, we had a last-ditch dusting of snow on Wednesday - about 3/4" for us, but other parts of Seattle had up to 5". We're looking forward to some warmer weather so we can start making use of our backyard again - put on a few BBQs, and let Isobel spend some time outside. She seemed to really enjoy it last year when she was only a few weeks old. In anticipation, we popped down to REI in Redmond and picked up a backpack baby carrier for Isobel - nice aluminium frame and a little weather hood, so she can survey her surrounds in style. With the co-op dividend from last year and a 20% coupon, we managed to get it for half price... bonus!!

Our planning for the trip to DC next month is in full swing - at this stage we're planning a week in DC, and another week based out of New York. We're a bit daunted about travelling with an infant, so we'll have to figure out how much we can pack and still manage to see everything we want ... we weren't planning to get a hire car, which adds another level of difficulty to the plan.

Finally, Tina had invited me last week to come along and try out for her netball team - they held tryouts on Saturday up at Marymoor Park, which isn't far from our place. Most of the players are expats - NZ, UK, South Africa, Malaysia, and of course lots of the Aussies I know already. Even though the weather was pretty average, I had a great time - I've got a long way to go before I'm match fit again, but it felt good to have a run up and down a court again - I haven't played for about seven years! More tryouts again this weekend (thankfully they have a social comp as well as those playing for sheepstations!), and then the spring seasons stars shortly after. Should help me lose some of the baby wobble I'm still carrying around...