Andy has arrived safely in Adelaide for his latest trip - no upgrade this time! His luggage took the scenic route again, but thankfully it caught up with him by the end of the day. Spare seats between LA and Sydney were a bit scarce for some reason this weekend, so he left a day earlier with the rest of his team and actually got a rest day ... for the first time in about five years of travelling .

Isobel has settled back to a routine again, after being a little unsettled for a couple of days - she's petering out a little earlier in the evenings, but then wakes up with a bit of a cry about 40mins after putting her to bed. Perhaps it's another tooth?! She's been introduced to a few more new flavours this week - some granola (muesli) blends, and tonight some chicken and noodles. She's getting more interested in the Cheerios after trying those last week for the first time, but still has a bit of difficulty manipulating the individual pieces - they often end up in the web between her thumb and forefinger, but that's good enough to then transfer to her mouth. Finally, she also got her first taste of Starbucks ... we went for a walk to our nearest shopping centre during the week while the weather held, and the new summer flavours were out. No coffee in this one, but it was funny to see her sucking on the straw and then saying 'num num num'! Personally, I like the orange mocha ... tastes just like Jaffas!!

Speaking of words, Isobel has been distinctly saying 'mum-mum-mum' for a few days now ... I win!! At least I think I do, I don't remember her saying 'da-da-da'. There was a bit of 'ba-ba-ba' and 'va-va-va' a few weeks ago, but no Ds ... my story and I'm sticking to it . Of course, she'll be able to get away with anything now ...

A fairly quiet weekend with Andy gone, and the weather back to the usual Seattle drizzle. Netball on Saturday was all the way over in Ballard, which took me about 40mins to find - a community centre off the main street, in the middle of a residential area. The club is trying to do some promotion in the local area and get a few more people interested in playing. I was asked to fill in for one of the competition teams again - they jokingly called me their 8th team member, I've played so many games for them now! I'd love to think my skills had something to do with it, but it's mainly just getting enough bodies on the court .

The gym was a bit warm and humid, so we were glad it wasn't the height of summer ... and Rebecca was kind enough to look after Isobel for me while she kept time for the game. It's quite hard to concentrate when your baby is crying from the sidelines! But we dropped the back on the stroller so she could lie down, and she managed to drop off to sleep for about 40 minutes - even with people yelling and a whistle blowing nearby! I did manage to forget the diaper bag though, which I didn't even realise until this afternoon when Tina rang to check if it was mine .. bad Mummy! Thankfully there were no little surprises inside for anyone, and Tina will bring it along to Latte on Tuesday for me. Phew!

Crochet guild meeting again tomorrow night, and I'm driving as the President is out of town. I finished up the couple of charity baby blankets I worked on from the guild meeting a couple of weeks ago, and I'm pleased with how they've turned out - nothing fancy, but they should be soft and warm. Wondering if I have time to knock out a quick blanket for a baby shower next weekend - one of the Aussie wives is nearly due with her first baby, and is having a boy. Thought I might be able to whip up a quick cowboy blanket like the one I made for Jo and Nathan last year ... we'll see. Also finished my Monkey socks, I love the pattern and I got the gauge right this time ... so they actually fit! They need a bit of a wash and block to bring the pattern out properly, so I've ordered some blocking forms - might be able to put some piccies up next week.