. The last few weeks have been incredibly busy, but I think we're coping okay now - Ewan is sleeping far better than I remember Isobel doing at the same age, and has even slept right the night through a couple of times. Not enough to get our hopes up just yet, but it certainly gives me a chance to catch up on my sleep here and there!. He's changed so much already - he no longer has that grumpy-little-man face, his features have filled out a lot and he's a very smiley kid. We've even managed a couple of giggles out of him - apparently he's ticklish already
. Even Isobel will reach under his arm and say "tickle tickle tickle"! Isobel is adapting really well to being a big sister - she'll often jump up on the couch, grab the boppy pillow and put her arms out asking to have a cuddle. She still gets distracted pretty easily though, so these cuddle sessions don't last longer than a couple of minutes. It's still a huge relief to see her actually interested in this new little person, especially when he takes up so much of Mummy's time during the day! Ewan watches her every move with interest, and Isobel is pretty gentle with him - it's pretty amazing to watch the two of them interact. I hope they continue to stay this friendly towards each other as they grow up
Isobel's vocab has increased in leaps and bounds in recent weeks - she looks so pleased when she can make herself understood now. It's certainly made mealtimes much easier, we can now give her a couple of options and improve the chances of success. It's also funny to watch her sitting on the floor with her books, babbling away and reading to herself. She'll even use the same vocal inflections we use when we read to her, right down to sound effects and dramatic pauses. It can be very difficult to keep a straight face sometimes during reading time.
She is also absolutely infatuated with Elmo - we'd bought a couple of interactive cloth Elmo books for her months ago, not realising the franchise character imprinting starts very young. One morning she made the connection between Elmo on her books and the little red monster on her nappies, and yelled "El-mo!!" - and now we have to be very careful walking around book shops and toy shops ... just in case she spots an Elmo-something (books, toys, furniture ... he's on everything!!). Of course Mum and Dad took the opportunity to feed the addiction while they were here, buying a couple of DVDs for her - but that's what grandparents are for
.We popped up to the Evergreen State Fair on Sunday, hoping to show Isobel some animals up close now she's a bit older. I'd entered a couple more of my handiwork this year - a crocheted afghan, and a couple of pairs of knit socks. We found the crafts hall again, and saw my Hexagon Wheels afghan hanging on the wall with a blue rosette! My socks had also been judged highly - the Annetrelac socks had a blue rosette and a 'special award' rosette, and my Bayerische socks had a blue rosette and a 'best presentation' rosette. My Annetrelac socks were made with yarn from a local dyer - Yarn Pirate is based not far from us in Everett, and she spotted my socks in a Flickr group for her yarns. She was even kind enough to feature them on her blog today!
I also spotted an entry from one of the other ladies in my crochet guild, who'd been awarded Grand Champion - a lovely crocheted capelet with a pineapple motif (she does love her pineapple stitch!). The number of afghans seemed down a bit this year compared to last, but the display cabinets had lots of smaller pieces - I feel pretty proud to have done well in a state-level competition like this.
The weather has been a bit average for the last few weeks - summer has definitely been a little underwhelming this year. The first Pumpkin Spice Lattes of the season have reportedly been spotted at Starbucks, which means the end of the year is approaching quickly!! Next thing we know the holiday season will be upon us, and we'll be heading back to Australia - but there's a pile of administrative paperwork we have to do before then. Needless to say I am not looking forward to an international removal with two kids underfoot, but any moves we do after this one are going to be a piece of cake in comparison!
