Isobel's crawling is getting faster and faster, and she's having great fun zipping around and hauling herself up on her feet to peer around. We've had to put a few more cushioned bumpers on some furniture - she was chewing on the veneer on our TV stand, which then started peeling off in sharp splinters, not good for little kids. Apart from that, the rest of our babyproofing efforts appear to be holding ... so far.

It's been amazing to watch Isobel these last couple of weeks, from her first wobbly seconds on two feet - she's now confidently planting her feet several inches apart, and can stand for a couple of minutes while holding onto a couch or the fireplace. We think we'll start to see some 'crusing' very soon. In the last couple of days she's also learned to lower herself back down to the floor again, to much applause from Mum and Dad - hopefully that means fewer bumps on the head now! She's been trying to "clap hands", copying Mum and Dad ... we'll clap our hands together, then she tries to do the same - she tends to grab her own hands rather than 'clap' though. She still has a huge smile on her face, so we know she's enjoying herself.

Isobel also did a lot of chatting this week, far more than usual - perhaps her brain can concentrate on talking again now she's got the crawling thing down pat! Lots of "ba-ba-ba-ba" and "va-va-va-va", usually combined with a grab at anything in reach on the seat of the couch ... time for me to move some more stuff to higher ground! A few more new flavours this week - beans, carrots, peaches and pears. I didn't realise Andy had fed her carrots one night, until finding her bum stained BRIGHT ORANGE a day or so later, and wondering what on earth he'd fed her ...

My birthday this week was a relatively quiet day - I received a few books from my wishlist, while I won't get to try the patterns inside for a little while they're safely tucked away in my craft library for reference. I received beautiful cards from Andy and Isobel (who apologised for not being able to find one that said "Mum"), and had a lovely surprise with a phone call from Granny in Sydney ... that's a lot of numbers to get right for an international call! Unfortunately Isobel was asleep for her afternoon nap at the time, so she didn't get to have a chat with Great Granny this time.

Andy's plotted out a number of local hikes for us to do this summer, so on Saturday we headed down to Cougar Mountain for a "training run" ... just under four miles round trip, and only about 600ft total height gain over the whole trail. A bit more planning required these days - diaper bag, hats, sunscreen for Isobel, sunscreen for us, GPS, maps, water, backpack, camera - just as well we have the Big Red Car to cart everything around. We had a beautiful spring day, and Isobel loved the whole thing - she babbled happily away from her vantage point, about the same height as Dad and with so much to look at on the way around. The track was nice and easy, although I think the jogging I've been doing for the last couple of weeks helped a lot. We managed to find a couple of caches on our way as well, so we dropped off one of the travel bugs we brought back from Australia for its owners to collect. The viewpoint near the carpark had a fantastic view of Lake Sammamish - bright blue water contrasting with the deep green pine trees, a very "Pacific Northwest" scene!

A bit of shopping to do today - we're after a wading pool for the summer so Isobel can have a splash in the backyard. Stock here tends to be very seasonal, so you have to get in pretty quick or risk missing out. Our recent run of nice weather also appears to be finishing up, so we'll probably be back to the traditional Seattle drizzle by mid-week.