The Adventures of Andy & Ali (plus one & a bit)

The first eight weeks

Ali — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:25:00 -0700

I know, I know ... I've been neglecting the blog again . 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!

Feeling hot, hot, hot ...

Ali — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:31:00 -0700

Summer has arrived in Seattle, and I'm very grateful that I'm not still pregnant in this weather! Ewan is a little thermonuclear generator on his own, and it was rather uncomfortable last night trying to rock a hot little baby to sleep against my chest. I tried dressing him in a lighter onesie, but abandoned that idea after he kept waking up every half hour and complaining rather loudly - once he was back in his long-sleeve footed onesie, he slept through the rest of the night without a murmur. One day I'll learn ...

Mum and Dad are home again safely, and sent us an email reminding us of the cold weather we'll be enduring this time next year. We're completely (de-acclimatised? un-acclimatised? mal-adjusted?) not looking forward to returning from a Seattle winter to our first Australian summer in four years ... we feel so wimpy by wilting in the relatively mild summers here!

But at least the houses at home have airconditioning - we are completely reliant on electric fans here, which are next to useless once the house gets up to temperature - it stays hot for days, and is worse upstairs where the bedrooms are. The trees in the backyard make a big difference - Ii hate to think how bad it would be without the afternoon shade they provide!

Andy's away tonight for work, so this will be my first night alone with the two kids. As long as I can keep them out of sync, so they don't both need feeding at the same time, I might just make it .

Chunky monkey

Ali — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:39:00 -0700

Ewan had his 4wk 'well child checkup' today. Mum & Dad were amazed at how much bigger he looked when they arrived back from their trip last week, but it wasn't that obvious to us - we see him every day!

After all the issues we had with Isobel at the same point, I was a bit nervous about the visit - was I doing all the right things? Would the doctor give us a passing grade?

Apparently we're doing something right - he weighed in at 11lbs 10oz, nearly 3lbs up from his birthweight! I think he would've been even closer if I'd had time to feed him just before the appointment. He took his HepB needle pretty well, and was back to sleep by the time we were home again.

So now his weight gain is on track, I can graduate to demand feeding overnight and hopefully get some more sleep . Although not having to pump-and-freeze-and-defrost-and-sterillise-and-wash-bottles this time around is already making a huge difference in my 3am morale levels .

Welcome to the zoo!

Ali — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 18:55:00 -0700

We've been amazed at the variety of wildlife in our backyard during our time here. Not just the run-of-the-mill stuff like squirrels and robins, but also bigger anmals like racoons, ducks, andd even a deer last year.

We've established the critter eating our blackberry patch is a mountain beaver, thanks to some photos from Andy that showed the tell-tale white spot behind the ears. Pity we don't know how to get him to invite his mates around to visit - they're doing a better job on the blackberries than our gardening service!

Today, however, took the cake - we spotted two young coyotes on the hill near the side fence this morning. Andy was out shopping, so we grabbed the camera for documentary evidence, or I suspect he wouldn't have believed us! Mangy looking things too, probably moulting - but still pretty scrawny. I was surprised theey were bold enough to come into the bacckyard too, which means they're probably hungry enough to overcome any fear.

The most surprising thing to us is the ambivalence most people seem to have about their appearance. I thought we'd be able to call the City and have someone come and trap them, but we'd have to pay for a private contractor instead. Neighbours seem to think the kids would be okay, but pets would be in danger - I've seen cats that are bigger than Ewan is just now!

Needless to say we won't be letting the kids play in the backyard for a while ... hearing a nearby pack of coyotes howling in chorus with passing sirens is a bit unnerving .

Meeting Prudence Mapstone

Ali — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:29:00 -0700

A few weeks ago I was contacted out of the blue by a travel agent in Massachusetts, looking for a local yarn shop to host a visit by Prudence Mapstone - she had a free day in Seattle before heading off to teach on a fibre cruise to Alaska the following day. My friend Laurie had recommended me as a local 'expert' ( in that I lived a bit closer to Seattle than she did!!), so after asking around some folks in my two crochet guilds we came up with a short list and sent it back for consideration.

Today was the day of the visit so Ewan and I headed into West Seattle to Seattle Yarn, who were hosting the event. This was my first 'solo' with Ewan - Isobel was home with Mum & Dad, taking her afternoon nap. I found a chair in the corner and positioned myself for a quick getaway - in case Ewan decided to make himself heard half-way through the presentation. There was no need to worry though, as he was sound asleep in his capsule and slept through the whole thing!

Prudence was just lovely - her pieces are so inspiring, and it was incredible to have the opportunity to see her work in person. So many different components, and yet they all fit together like a jigsaw to form the finished garment. Prudence explained how she creates her garments, from cutting a basic pattern in newspaper, making yarn and colour choices, making the component scrumble pieces and then stitching everything together ... and having the faith to 'just do it' and trust in the look of the finished piece. She even showed us the technique for making her signature 'bullion' stitches!

It was also great to finally meet Laurie, after 'meeting' her on Ravelry last year and being invited to help moderate her Crochet Liberation Front group. She lives an hour or so north of us here - after missing a couple of opportunities earlier in the year to meet up, I wondered whether we'd cross paths at all before we head home at the end of the year! I forgot to bring a camera in my rush to get out the door on time and in one piece, but Laurie has a couple of photos on her blogs (here and here).

Seattle Yarn was a fun shop too - I would've loved to stay and browse a little longer after Prudence's talk, but Ewan had woken up by this point and announced to the whole store it was time for us to go! I did have time to pick up some beautiful bamboo/wool yarn for a little jumper for Isobel - small enough for me to work on when I have a spare five minutes at the end of the day.

And then there was two....

andy — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:59:00 -0700

So I need to change the name of the blog again....

Ewan James was born this afternoon (just) at Overlake weighing a very healthy 8lb 13oz. Mum and baby are doing well.

Setting a record!

andy — Sat, 17 May 2008 20:36:00 -0700

Seattle officially made 90F today! It broke a 52 year record high for 17 May...

Of course, I hd to take advantage of such great weather...I headed out for a nice paddle around the Washington Arboretum in the kayak that I acquired last year. Beautiful weather for a paddle there - but very dangerous for anyone paddling on snow melt fed rivers. At least twopeople are missing...with many more rescued on rivers in full flood and vey, very cold water (90F day and 40F water make for instant hypothermia!).

There's a few photos from my paddle in the May 2008 album.

Boston

Ali — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:30:00 -0700

We made it! After our disappointment last year having to cancel our trip Out East with only a week to go, we managed to find a spare week to try again this year. We caught a red-eye from SeaTac, hoping Isobel would get some sleep overnight and we'd be ready to go on arrival in Boston around 7am ... but she was up for most of the flight, only falling asleep about an hour before we landed. Bugger. We were lucky to be able to check in when we arrived at the hotel, so we unpacked and found our bearings, then headed off for a walk into the city to check things out.

Andy had a bit of a check list of things to see while we were here, and the big one was the Freedom Trail - a big red path that traces all through the city linking up a lot of the historic sights. We picked up a guidebook from the Visitor Centre in Boston Common and started off ... Isobel wanted to walk the whole way herself, and certainly made her annoyance known when we had to strap her into the stroller to pick up the pace a little!! The guidebook had lots of detail about the stories behind each of the stops, and it was interesting to see a few of the places we'd only read about before then.

Little did we know we'd arrived over the Patriots Day weekend, which meant Monday was a public holiday and the day of the Boston Marathon! Our hotel was a little way out of town, so we weren't really affected, but we saw a lot of runners wearing their commemorative spray jackets and finishing medals around town that evening. We took the ferry over to the USS Constitution only to find it was closed on Mondays, so we picked up the end of the Freedom Trail again and finished the sights we'd missed on Sunday, returning back through the city and stopping into the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. We were seated under a tour jacket from New Kids on the Block, who were originally from Boston - scary to think that was nearly 20 years ago!! Isobel enjoyed her hot dog, and giggled away at a young boy on a nearby table. He was enthusiastically bopping along to the music playing on the TV screens around the room, and Isobel thought he was hysterical.

We also managed to stop into the Children's Museum and the Aquarium during our trip - Isobel is getting old enough to need some separate entertainment, and she had a ball at both places. The Children's museum had a special section for under 3s, and once she got past her initial shyness she was racing around all the different toys and having a great time. A few of the kids in the room were being randomly selected for a learning study by some MIT students - we were asked if Isobel would participate, but when put in a small room with two strange people she clammed right up and clutched Mummy and Daddy pretty closely. Didn't want to play with the offered toys at all! Hopefully the students get something from her reaction, anyway .

After three days in Boston, we jumped on a train for the seven-hour trip down to DC. Thankfully we'd booked business class seats, so we had a bit more room for Isobel to climb around - we'd brought a few of her favourite books with us, but they only last so long. She flipped through all the magazines and safety cards, watched out the window for a while and finally fell asleep for a quick snooze towards the end of the trip. We're realising that she needs to be somewhere dark and quiet to get a good sleep - there's just too much to look at otherwise, and she'll force herself to stay awake!! Very funny to see her trying desparately to not fall asleep ... stubborn little thing, don't know where she gets that from .

Phew!

Ali — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:13:00 -0700

Last week was rather busy - Andy was dealing with some contractors who'd flown in to Seattle, which meant a lot of meetings and several late nights during the week. Isobel seems to know when one of us is away - she doesn't play around quite as much during bathtime or bedtime when there's only one person doing the baby-wrangling! Makes things much easier.

Pete and Libby invited us around to their place for lunch on Saturday, along with Darren and Cathy and their two kids. Isobel had a good feed of sausages and meatballs for lunch, and then she and Luke kept everyone amused for the afternoon with their antics - Luke's about a year older than Isobel, but they still get along pretty well. Isobel did really well for not getting her afternoon sleep ... which worries me a little in a way, I really don't need her to give up her one remaining sleep just yet!! Early next year would be just fine, thankyou very much ;-)

We popped into Bellevue Square on the way home in an attempt to find me a frock for the Ball in a couple of weeks - we sorted Andy out on Friday by getting him a tux, but guys are always easy to organise in that regard! I had a very naive idea that I'd be able to wander into the maternity shop, walk up to section with evening gowns and pick something off the rack ... er, apparently not. Apparently April is not "evening gown season", so apart from the clearance rack (which was all cocktail length, not full length dresses) there was not much in the shop. Oh dear. We had a quick look through Macys and I tried a couple of dresses on there - no maternity sizes, and I couldn't even size up a couple of dress sizes because they didn't zip up over the Bumb. Crap!! Still, they at least recommended a bridal shop not far from home that might be able to help out.

So on Sunday I drove over to the bridal shop, and was directed to the 'special occasion' dresses. I found a couple of nice styles, that would have suited if they'd actually had maternity sizes ... to my horror, the shop assistants said special orders were a minimum 3 months and then tailoring would be additional time again. We leave for DC in two weeks - not helpful!

I had one last shot before throwing myself at the mercy of online shopping and hoping for the best. We bundled Isobel into the car and headed down to Southcenter, after calling ahead to see if they actually had anything that would work for me. Again, we were directed towards the 'special occasion' dresses, which were on sale and in no particular order - trying to find nice styles from the catalog and then locate them in the racks was a challenge all its own. Finally I wandered around a different corner and spotted ... maternity gowns!! OK, so there were only four dresses to pick from, but beggars can't be choosers ... two were near enough to my size, and after my experiences shopping for this dress so far I wasn't going to quibble! I tried them both on and settled on one - a periwinkle-blue colour, not one I'd have normally picked but it didn't look too bad considering how stressed I looked at that point! I made an appointment for Tuesday to come back for the fitting - only about six inches of fabric to take up on the hems, but that's normal for me - and was surprised to see the price that came up on the register, the dress was marked down about 70% ... so I can afford to get matching shoes and a bag now!!

I also had my 28wk appointment with the OBGYN last week - I'm at the point where they do the test for gestational diabetes, so I had to drink that horrid sugary stuff and then have more blood taken. I'll get the results in a couple of weeks. I'm still progressing well, bub's heartrate is good and strong and I can't believe I'm in the third trimester already ... where has the time gone?! Reminds me I'd better make a few phone calls this week - have to organise the "blue book" (Australian immunisation schedule) for the baby, plus find out what's happening with the new nursery furniture we're supposed to be getting soon ...

Wacky Zany Seattle Weather!

andy — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 21:21:00 -0700

So, here we are...two days from the start of baseball season and what do we get? Snow! It didn't accumulate yesterday, but tonight we have almost 2 inches on the ground and it's still going!

I'm glad the furnace got fixed yesterday because after ~~two~~three nights this week without central heating I don't think it would have been nice to be in the house with no heating while its snowing outside!

BTW have your ever tried to buy a small electric heater at the end of winter/start of spring?

Snow, snow, snow ...

Ali — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 20:40:00 -0800

Since our last update, we've had a couple of falls of snow ... this season is turning out to be the best for many years up at the ski resorts.

Andy ended up with a snow day, after coming home early a couple of weeks ago - he tried making it into work, but the end of our street was slippery and the main roads were covered in black ice. He made it as far as the turn-off to the freeway, and called to say he was coming home again - there were too many idiots on the road trying to push themselves and their cars too far. The snow lasted most of the week, with near-freezing temperatures through to the weekend ... and our unique little backyard that seems to block out the sun in the winter months.

Last weekend we finally decided Isobel had enough hair to warrant a haircut ... or at least a bit of a trim! Her fringe was getting a bit straggly, and she had lots of floaty bits around her ears that needed taming. Our nearby shopping centre has a kids hairdresser, so we popped in on Saturday and made a booking for the afternoon. Isobel was not impressed at all ...she didn't want to sit in the special airplane seat, or the other special fire engine seat. Andy had to sit her on his knee, and even then we ended up in tears as soon as the hairdresser started misting her hair with water.

We tried distracting her with toys, books and the contents of my handbag ... all to no avail. The hairdresser managed to get a few snips in here and there, and after what seemed like only five minutes she was done. They put a few snippets of Isobel's hair in a clear envelope for us, with a printed photo on the front of Isobel bawling her eyes out ... just to remember the occasion . And how much for all this??!! $25. That's more than Andy & I pay for our haircuts We joked afterwards that we received a $25 photo with a free haircut, but we were still a little surprised at the cost. Moral of the story ... ask first!! Either that, or don't mention it's a first haircut .

I had another appointment with my OBGYN on Friday, I'm about 19wks along now. Baby is doing well, and my doctor says I'm doing better this time than last time ... at least I know what to expect now! We'll be back this Friday for the mid-term ultrasound, and with a bit of luck the peanut will cooperate and let us know whether we need a whole new wardrobe or not .

On Sunday we headed into the city for the Seattle Mariners' Fanfest - a chance each year before the baseball season starts for fans to get up close and personal with the local MLB team. You can get autographs from players, tour the facilities, have a chat with coaching staff and generally wander around at Safeco Field without the usual throng of people you usually get on a game day.

One great thing about the Fanfest is the focus on kids - there are 'stations' all over the baseball field where kids can go out and throw a ball around, have a bit of a hit, and run around the diamond between first and third bases. Isobel's still a bit young for playing with baseballs and gloves, but she does enjoy a bit of a walk ... so we made our way to the appropriate line and waited our turn. We took a bit of a wide line, as there were a few school-age kiddies intent on setting speed records and we didn't want her bowled over. She took her time, toddling along in the clay with a huge grin on her face . We finally made it to third base, and quickly swept her up and out of the way before the next wave of speed demons came in for a sliding finish. We grabbed a couple of photos down in the dugouts, and then wandered through the team rooms to finish the tour. Isobel had a great time ... and we had a bit of fun too . I'm glad we managed to get to one of those fan weekends while we were here - pity Isobel wasn't a bit older, but she can still say she's run the field at Safeco.

We had another couple of inches of snow overnight - beautiful fine powder where we live, but much less coverage a mile or so up the hill towards the nearby shops. After ducking out for a bit of shopping during the day, we took Isobel for a walk down to our communal mailbox - she kept letting out little yelps and squeals of delight, and it was so funny to see her little footsteps in the snow alongside ours! The little hill between our lane and the street is a bit steep with the snow and slush, so we carried her along for that part ... but by the time we got back to our laneway she was much more confident. She even started picking up chunks of snow and carrying them over to Daddy for him to make snowballs.

We have more snow forecast for tonight - maybe another couple of inches if the conditions are right . Of course we have our fingers crossed ... this might be the last snow of the season!

Beautiful one day ...

Ali — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 23:22:00 -0800

It's not supposed to work this way!!

Yesterday we had lovely sunshine, even if it wasn't particularly warm. Today I had to call Andy at work and suggest he make his way home early, as it started snowing here just before 4pm. (Last time that happened, it took Andy four hours to get home!!)

We've had more than an inch since then, and it's going to be colder overnight so everything will probably ice over. Might be a late start in the morning for Andy ...

Finally - some sunshine!

Ali — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 22:42:00 -0800

We've had a quiet couple of weeks at home - Andy's back at work now, and Isobel and I are getting used to weekdays on our own again. Seattle bombed out of the NFL playoffs again yesterday, and Washington had a tornado rip through near Vancouver during the week - closer to Portland than us. The preselections are in full swing for the Presidential election at the end of the year, and every news report has one candidate sniping about another. We haven't quite hit the point where one party starts sniping at the other - they're all too busy taking each other apart at the moment. Ten months to go, ten months to go ...

Isobel is getting more expressive and more emphatic about things - great big hand movements, and the VOLUME!! She squeals a lot when she gets excited about something, not so good during bath-time in an echo-y bathroom upstairs. Her appetite has increased significantly - she now has cereal and a banana for breakfast, and a couple of slices of bread or toast for lunch. Haven't quite converted her to Vegemite yet, but she loves our crock-pot concoctions for dinner ... when we remember not to put too much chilli in them. Oops. Its getting harder to convincer her to lie still on the change table in her room, and she's started to put up a fight with clothing too. First it was just the jeans or overalls ... now it's sometimes the shirts as well, putting her hands over her head to prevent me getting it on. At least the house has decent heating, so she can still run around in a nappy and not get cold at this time of year.

The bedtime story routine has also changed a bit in the last few weeks - no longer is Isobel content to just sit on my lap and turn the pages in the book as I read to her - she has to be on the floor now, pulling books out of her bookcase as the mood takes her. I've taken to just reading through a couple of the 'regulars' while she does this, sometimes she'll come over and turn a couple of pages for me.

I know there's at least one book she listens to as I read, regardless of what she's doing at the time ... her "Goodnight Room" book which I've been reading to her each night for over a year now. One line gets repeated a couple of times during the story, "goodnight to the old lady, whispering 'hush'", and I've always drawn out the 'hush' to be more of a 'ssshhhh' when I read to her ... in some vain attempt to get her to calm down and drift off to sleep in my arms (ha!). Lately she's started joining in with the 'ssshhh' for this line when I read, and it's a bit difficult not to laugh when she does - because she's usually leafing through her bookshelf, pulling her collection of Dr Seuss books from the shelves at the same time!

We had our first bit of sunshine today in AGES ... so after Isobel woke up from her nap, we bundled her up and headed for the park near our house. She gets so excited when she gets to go for a walk anywhere - her whole face lights up and she giggles the whole way. The little shortcut past the back of our street is a bit much for her yet, but apart from that little stretch she walked most of the way herself.

Several other families had the same idea as us, so there were lots of kids in the park when we arrived. Two little girls ran up to Isobel as soon as we sat down, asking if they could 'hug the baby'. Ummm ... no. Especially not when you're sporting a cold sore the size of Texas on your top lip . Thankfully their parents came and whisked them away shortly afterwards. There was a group of older girls loudly playing 'Locksley Castle' nearby (too many Kevin Costner movies, that lot!), and the combined noise was a bit much for Isobel at first ... a few animal cookies and a bit of juice killed some time until the older girls moved away to another part of the park. Once the local noise died down a bit, Isobel perked up considerably and the grin returned - she had great fun in the swing, on the slides and even managed to figure out how to climb the stairs up to the big slide ... with Daddy by her side on the structure, and Mummy at the bottom of the slide to catch her.

She ended up trying out all three slides in the park - a little shallow kiddie one to warm up on, a corkscrew slide and a 'big dipper' style slide with a 'pause' in the middle. The corkscrew was definitely her favourite, she worked out how to slow herself with her feet and hand to stay upright and controlled. No problems at all with diving down the slide and not having me in sight at the bottom - she always had a huge smile on her face as she came around the last curve at the bottom.

We headed home after the sun dipped below the horizon - still pretty early here, about 4.30pm but we managed a good hour or so after the initial tears on arrival. More rain forecast in the next few days, but hopefully the weather will turn soon and we can start spending a bit more time down there during the week ... it certainly makes a difference to her leftover energy levels in the evenings!

I had a 'night off' last night, for dinner in West Seattle with the other board members for my crochet guild. This is my second year as secretary of the guild, and each year we have a couple of 'board meetings' to plot out the calendar for the year, plan workshops and charity projects. I feel so lucky to have been welcomed into the guild by everyone, and it's nice to have an opportunity to put something back into the organisation side of things. I'm teaching another workshop in March, and I've been working on arrangements for a guest instructor for our meeting in February - there's a big craft conference in Tacoma the weekend before our regular meeting, and I was able to contact one of the crochet instructors and have her stay on an extra night to teach a couple of classes for our guild.

It's taken a bit of to-ing and fro-ing to set up ... from first checking whether we had enough funds in the guild treasury, to extracting class preferences from all the guild members so we could decide on a couple of classes to do. But we're getting very close to finalising arrangements now, and I'm really looking forward to seeing it all come together! These little opportunities are the sort of thing I won't get the chance to do once we're home - that 14hr plane trip makes it difficult for little side trips like this once for our instructor, and the wealth of knitting and crochet classes offered by 'celebrity' instructors at these craft conferences just aren't available outside the US. I will really miss my crochet buddies when we finally head home!! But I'll be able to leave knowing I've contributed as much as I've taken away over the three years or so I've been involved with the guild.

Another year over, a new one just begun ...

Ali — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 23:29:00 -0800

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!! We've had a very relaxing week at home, just the three (and a bit) of us .

Christmas was a special day - Isobel was a bit more animated and involvedthis year, but still doesn't quite get the whole present-thing yet. She did enjoy pulling ornaments off the Christmas tree at every opportunity though! Every present under the tree was for her, apparently. She is definitely enjoying her spoils this year - lots of wonderful new books to read and some special ones for bedtimes, plus a toy piano from Mummy and Daddy. Santa even brought her some little toys and books, as well as a mini-'magna-doodle' pad so she can draw without putting crayon on the walls .

Craig and Teena invited us to post-Christmas drinkies at their house during the week - it was nice to catch up with some friends again, and hear how everyone's holidays were going. Isobel was her usual shy self to begin with, but soon warmed up to the other boys and girls and was off playing happily. It's nice to have her at an age where she can 'play' with other kids, but she's still learning the concept of sharing ... and allowing other kids to have a turn with the toy she wants RIGHT NOW without just taking it from them. Playgroup with Isobel is going to be a challenge for me for a while, I can tell .

We watched the New Year celebrations telecasts in three timezones - fireworks on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, dropping 'the ball' in New York, and 'New Year at the Needle' here in Seattle. The local event was a bit of a fizzer this year - lots of hype leading up to the night about a new and improved fireworks show, set to movie themes as a tribute to the 80th year of the Academy Awards. It all looked good until a couple of minutes into the show, when the fireworks suddenly stopped ... and then started again ... then stopped ... then started again. By this time they were completely out of sync with the music, and the last three minutes or so had no soundtrack at all. Apparently the computer system controlling the show crashed and had to be restarted - twice. Very ironic that a computer glitch ruined the show in the home town of companies such as Microsoft and Nintendo .

Andy has another week off before returning to work next week - we have all the Christmas decorations to take down and pack away, and we should start some planning for our visit home in the next few weeks. Not looking forward to arriving home in the middle of summer - we're well and truly acclimatised to the colder weather here, and it's been a long time since we've suffered through 40degC temperatures!!

On holidays ... finally!

Ali — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 21:57:00 -0800

Andy finished up at work during the week, so we're finally on holiday! On some days, it feels like this year has just stretched on and on and on ... and at other times, we wonder where the time has gone and how we managed to fit in anything at all.

Andy and I celebrated our tenth anniversary this week ... we splashed out and had dinner with Isobel at the local Red Robin restaurant. Isobel was so well behaved - drinking from her little straw and cup, and chomping down on chicken strips and some chips. We were both amazed at how much she managed to eat - more than a whole chicken strip, and several chippies too. There were a couple of other families nearby with small kiddies running around, and Isobel took great delight in watching their antics from her high chair - so glad she sits quietly when we go out, although I'm sure that only lasts so long!

I also had another checkup with my OBGYN this week - the results from the scan last week weren't back yet, but the blood test from a month ago was all good news. Always good to hear Peanut's heartbeat on the doppler - about 160bpm. These early weeks are tough, before I can feel the baby move myself ... I always worry that something is going to happen and I won't know until my next appointment. I'm a worry-wart like that.

Steve and Di popped around with Chris and Katie for a visit today, dropping off a present under the tree for Isobel and some yummy shortbread for us! Andy's arcade machine was a big hit with everyone ... Chris and Katie loved feeding the tokens into the coin slots and Katie managed to whoop Andy at a couple of games - beaten by an almost-eight-year-old!!

Isobel is almost running everywhere these days - we rugged her up and took her for a walk to the letterbox yesterday before it got too dark, which is around 4.30pm these days. She waves away any attempts to hold her hand, and toddles along quite happily on her own. dog-leg lane down to our house has a little hill where it joins the rest of the street, and Isobel managed to climb the hill both ways for the first time on her own - the downhill stretch to the letterbox itself is pretty steep, so we had to step in and take her hand as her brakes don't work too well yet. Apart from that, she managed the whole thing herself ... we're so proud! She still has a habit of turning around and heading back up the lane before we get home again, as if to delay going back into the house - and she can move pretty quick when she wants to. We usually have to carry her up the steps to the house, as she gets a bit upset when we spoil her fun and finally bring her inside again. I think she'll be spending a lot of time outside next year when the weather improves again.

Only a couple of days to Christmas now - the decorations are finally up and the storage boxes packed away. The weather reporters are forecasting a chance of snow on Christmas Day - wouldn't that be a lovely touch? Merry Christmas, everyone!

Here we go again!

Ali — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:07:00 -0800

Now we've done the official-parent-notification-thingie, we can break the news publicly ... Isobel's going to be a big sister next year! We had the NT scan on Friday, Andy took the day off work and came along with Isobel - she did really well apart from a bit of a freak-out when the lights were dimmed and the lady started waving a wand around on Mummy's tummy. So she sat with me on the recliner-chair, once she saw there was a little TV screen to watch she perked up considerably ;-) The results won't be back for two weeks, but the sonographer said everything was well within spec - good news indeed. EDD is towards the end of June, so I won't have to endure another summer pregnancy!

I've been very lucky again this time around - no morning sickness, but I've been feeling incredibly tired in the mornings recently. Much more so than I remember last time around, but I was working then and was a wee bit fitter than I am now. I am so looking forward to seeing the days getting longer again next month, the winter light is pretty pitiful and I miss the sun having some actual WARMTH!!

Isobel continues to amaze us - she's been trying out a few new sounds lately, and we think "gooo gurr" is probably "good girl" ... she does hear that a lot from us! She has a few words now, but she understands so much more - we can ask her to get a particular toy from her shelves, and she'll trot over to pick out the right one and bring it back. She's been trying to put her own socks and shoes on when we head out somewhere, although the coordination isn't quite there yet - but she'll stand still and put her arms in the sleeves of her parka. Cutlery is still a bit of a mystery, though - she seems to understand the purpose of a spoon, but hasn't quite figured out the 'spoon' end is going to provide more success than the 'handle' end. I'm sure all little kids are the same like this, but this is our first attempt and it's all still pretty astounding!!

Tonight is my last guild meeting for the year - we're doing a potholder exchange, so I found a pattern for a little 'Nemo' fishie and stitched it up yesterday. Isobel absconded with one of the sides part-way through, so I think I'll make up another one and stuff it with pillow stuffing to make a little toy fishie for her at some stage.

December Storms ...

Ali — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 22:04:00 -0800

... at least, that's what the news reports are calling the onslaught we survived last weekend. Southern Washington was hit very hard - first with snow, then rain, then gale-force winds. Most of the rivers in the state were close to or well over their flood points, several towns were cut off when bridges were washed away, and a 20mi stretch of the I-5 was under 10ft of water. The I-5 is the main freeway between Seattle and Portland, and it's only opened up again in the last couple of days - a huge headache for freight and commuters.

We weren't really affected where we are here, apart from a torrent of water in the reserve across from our house - the rain pours into the empty block off the main road, and drains into the little fenced-off area between all the houses in our street. It has continued to rain all week, and we even had a little more snow today - more the 'snowglobe' type than the big fluffy flakes we had last weekend, thankfully!

Poor Isobel has spent most of the week fighting off the cold she picked up last weekend. How do people so small produce so much SNOT?! I've spent so much time this week chasing after her with a tissue in hand she now thinks it's a game, and runs away whenever she hears a tissue being pulled out of the box. At least she's still giggling.

We also had her 15mo checkup this week - during which we also discovered she has an ear infection! It doesn't seem to be bothering her too much, but we've got a big bottle of pink medicine for her to be given twice a day. Thankfully she seems to like the stuff, and opens her mouth wide when I bring over the little syringe for her to take. I hate to imagine how we'd manage if she didn't like it.

The best part of this week has been getting our first 'kisses' from Isobel. I've been battling a cold myself this week, and after a particularly slow morning on Thursday we had lunch and I took her up to her room for a couple of stories before her nap. Just before putting her in her cot, she leaned towards me with her mouth wide open - thought she was trying to bite my nose at first, but I got a big wet 'mwah' on my cheek. Was that a kiss for Mummy? Yep - got another one!! I nearly floated down the stairs. Andy got a couple of kisses too, when he arrived home from work that night. The kisses have been few and far between since then, but we know that she knows now... we're looking forward to a few more soon!!

It's beginning to look a lot like ... winter!

Ali — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 20:35:00 -0800

Brrr. What a weekend - the forecasters warned about potential snowfalls on Saturday afternoon, so imagine our surprise to find an inch of snow outside when we woke on Saturday morning!! We managed to get out and about for some grocery essentials during the morning, and then watched as the snow started up again just after lunch - big, fat, fluffy flakes that started accumulating quicker than we thought!!

Saturday was supposed to be our big day of Christmas functions - an afternoon party with Santa for the kids, and then the office party in the evening for the rest of us. Snow always makes the roads a bit dicey in Seattle, because it doesn't snow often so no-one has much practice at driving through it. We bundled Isobel into the car for the kids party, about half an hour away from home at a place with lots of inflatable structures and slides. I was a bit worried about Isobel getting cleaned up by the older kids, so Andy had an excuse to escort her through the different sections. She absolutely loved it - a big grin on her face the whole time, giggling away hysterically. She even went down the big slide like a pro - this thing was about 10m high, Andy sat at the top and kept the slide clear while she was there. She kept her balance the whole way down, until the end when she tried to get up ... and did a big face-plant. No crying though ... I can see lots of roller coasters in her future, at this rate!!

There were no cuddles for Santa this year - Andy brought her over to say hello, but her hands tightened into a death grip on Andy's shirt so we left it at that. Santa still had a balloon for Isobel, which she just loved! There were balls for her to pick up and walk around with - she must have had a good time, she kept wandering back into the play room when we were gathering all our gear at the end of the party!

The snow was still falling heavily as we headed home, and the road up to our house was getting slippery. After looking at the forecast for the evening, we decided to skip the office party and stay home - we weren't confident about being able to get back home from Seattle, and didn't want to risk not being able to get back for the babysitter. The snow continued for most of the night, and the temperatures hovered around freezing ... as disappointing as it was to miss a Christmas party with friends, I think we made the right choice in the end.

Isobel's had a rough week - more teeth coming through, and a snuffly nose today which is making things tough for her. I met up with a couple of friends on Friday for a walk, and Isobel was very quiet for a while, munching on the zip of her parka. She started crying after we'd been out for an hour or so, and we headed home as it was nearly time for her lunch and nap - when I got back to the car, she had a new tooth on her bottom jaw - must have cut through the gum when she was chewing on her zip, so no wonder she started bawling! All the kiddie cold and flu medicines were recalled a little while ago due to some fatal overdoses, so we've been limited to putting a bit of Vicks on her chest to help her breathing. It's helping a little, but not completely - hopefully things clear up soon.

Andy's been up in the attic today, digging out all our Christmas decorations and getting the tree set up. Where on earth has the year gone?!

Getting to be a big girl...

andy — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 18:49:00 -0800

After a Thanksgiving day with little turkey - we just ran out of time this year - we headed down south for a little BBQ. It was also a little experiment to see if we could have Isobel eat a kid's meal from the menu rather than bringing our own.

As you can see from the photos, Isobel enjoyed the meal at Famous Dave's - even drinks weren't a problem (we've skipped sippy cups...and gone straight to straws!)

Photos added to a Gallery....and a request

andy — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 19:08:00 -0800

I submitted some of the photos I've taken with my Fotoman 617 panormaic camera to the website of the manufacturer. They have been accepted and can be found on display here. In addition the guy who runs the company asked for a high resolution file of 'From Below' to print and hang on his dining room wall. Needless to say that the film has been sent off for pro-scanning so that we can get the best print possible!

You've come a long way, baby!!

Ali — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 21:54:00 -0700

Our little baby is growing up ... we had a small gathering at home today to celebrate her first birthday. It was also a bit of a celebration for us, having survived our first 12 months as parents - relatively intact! We're soooo grateful she's a good sleeper!!

We decked out the kitchen in Winnie the Pooh merch, put out some nibblies, made up some fairy bread and had a big chocolate cake in the fridge ready to go. Isobel was a little fragile to start with, we don't often have some many kiddies around to visit and she had no idea what was going on. Eventually she warmed up though, and was very good letting everyone play with her toys.

Isobel loved the fairy bread, and managed to get hundreds and thousands EVERYWHERE. She just loves being able to feed herself, though, so the little triangles were perfect. The other kiddies enjoyed decorating the balloons on the backs of each chair with funny faces (whoever thought to put face stickers in the balloon kits is BRILLIANT!).

Finally it was time to bring out the cake - everyone sang Happy Birthday, and Isobel soon had chocolate cake and chocolate icing smeared from one ear to the other. She saved her special trick for Mummy, though - after getting fed up with being held by Dad, she was passed over and proceeded to smear chocolate cake all over my shirt ... much to everyone's amusement!!

Luckily the sugar rush didn't last too long - Isobel started winding down a bit earlier than normal. All we have to say now is "bath time?" and she heads for the gate, climbs the stairs (under Mummy's watchful eye) and toddles into her room ready to get changed. She won't let me just read books to her any more, she picks and chooses which book she wants and has to turn the pages herself. She's also figured out if she flicks back through the pages at the end of the story instead of closing the book, she gets to stay up a little longer ... smart cookie .

We all had a wonderful day, and feel so lucky to have been able to share such an event with some of the friends we've made here. If only we could've had more of our families here too ... but we know everyone was with us in spirit!!

Day 4 - Yellowstone National Park, WY

Ali — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 21:39:00 -0700

Our first full night's sleep for the trip ... ahhh, bliss!! We made a pretty leisurely start to the day, so nice to not have to pack up all our gear into the car for a change. Even with a late start, we still managed to make it across to the Park before the main wave of tourists arrived.

We started at the Fountain Paint Pots, and were lucky enough to catch Fountain Geyser erupting. We gradually worked our way down to Old Faithful. Isobel had a ball bouncing around in her backpack, which made it a bit difficult at times for Andy to take photos with a wriggling baby on his back! We saw lots of geysers and mudpots, gorgeously coloured run-offs and springs, and walked through lots of steam ... such a bizarre landscape in amongst beautiful meadows and streams. We saw a few more bison and elk too - Andy managed to get some good shots, they seem surprisingly tame for wild animals.

By the time we made it to Midway Basin it was early afternoon, and we were going to make a last stop before heading in for lunch. We parked the car and started unloaded - Isobel gave a bit of a wave and fell asleep on the spot! Rather than risk getting her out of the car, I stayed behind and Andy headed for a lap of the boardwalks and took some photos. She was still out when we passed Black Sand Basin, so Andy ducked out for some more photos while I kept watch in the car.

After about an hour Isobel roused again, so we grabbed some lunch at the cafe near Old Faithful. We decided to head out around the boardwalk behind the geyser - we only stopped quickly yesterday, so didn't get much of a chance to explore the rest of the area. We ended up at the Beehive geyser a few minutes before it went off - quite lucky, as it only blows about twice a day. Unfortunately we were also downwind from the geyser, so once it started erupting we had to make a run back up the boardwalk to get out of the plume ... Andy and I were soaked, Isobel got a little wet but stayed mostly dry in her stroller. The poor Park Ranger stayed behind with one gent in his power chair, and got absolutely drenched ... above and beyond the call of duty! Needless to say Isobel was not impressed with this variation to the script - it was a bit of a surprise, and with lots of people around us also trying to get out of the plume things got a little noisy. Still, we consider ourselves pretty lucky - not only did we get to see Beehive Geyser erupt, we got caught in the downpour too!!

At this stage we decided to head back to the hotel for the day - we made a detour for an elk herd by the side of the road so Andy could get some photos, and Isobel had a bit of a walk up and down near the car while we waited. Once back at the hotel we did some washing, and had a chat with the front desk staff to get a recommendation for dinner. The hotel staff came through - we headed to Beartooth Barbeque, and had fantastic pulled chicken sandwiches - yum! They might get a return visit tomorrow night.

Isobel dropped off to sleep pretty quickly after a big dinner, and we had a look through our photos from today. We also did a bit of planning for tomorrow - we'll probably head down to the Canyon area for a look.

Day 3 - West Yellowstone, MT

Ali — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 21:10:00 -0700

Isobel was up again last night - she decided she didn't want to go back to sleep in spite of my coaxing. Andy's magic touch worked again ... apparently she wanted to play for a little while, then gave a little giggle and fell asleep on his lap! He managed to put her back in the cot without protest, and she then slept through again til about 8am.

The drive today was only about three hours all up, so we had a pretty relaxed trip. We did a bit of a drive around the historic area in uptown Butte before heading out on the highway again - very quiet on a Sunday morning. Isobel had a bit of a nap in the morning, and we made it to West Yellowstone by early afternoon.

Check-in at the hotel wasn't until 4pm, so after a quick lunch we headed into Yellowstone to have a look around. We drove up to Old Faithful and caught a show without having to wait too long - Isobel giggled away once the water started to shoot up in the air. Andy received lots of compliments from random strangers on the backpack carrier - for some reason people seem to think Isobel's a boy, even when all decked out in pink!! We even managed to see a few bison and elk on the way out of the park, with a bit of luck Andy's photos have turned out - handholding a big lens in strong winds has a pretty high difficulty rating .

We found the hotel, and were pleasantly surprised to find we've been upgraded to an even nicer room - we just wanted a 2 bedroom suite so we could put Isobel in her own room, and we've ended up with a wet bar and a dining table for six!! Very nice indeed. An early night for us tonight, the driving is starting to catch up - at least my laptop can see the wifi hotspot from our room here, so we don't have to skulk out to the lobby to catch up on email .

We'll be spending the next couple of days here, and hope to get around to see a few of the geysers and waterfalls if the weather permits. The forecast looks good so far ... here's hoping!

Day 2 - Butte, MT

Ali — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:23:00 -0700

(By the way, that's pronounced 'beaut', not 'butt' ).

We managed to sneak back into our room last night without waking Isobel - she did wake around 1.30am, but went back to sleep pretty quickly and then didn't wake until after 8.30am! Enough time for Mum and Dad to get up and have a shower, for me to duck out and get some breakfast and for Andy to start packing ... she was in such a good mood! We consolidated a few bags and created a bit more space, so there aren't so many things in the back seat with Isobel now - mostly just her stuff now that we need ready access to when we stop.

The trip today was only about 300mi, so on the way out of Spokane we decided to make a stop over the border in Idaho at Coeur d'Alene. We did a quick scan of some tourist brochures and found the city had a couple of nice parks and beaches, as well as the "world's longest floating boardwalk" ... well, that had to be worth checking out!

We found a car park and loaded Isobel into the backpack carrier - gave up on the hat after losing it in the wind a couple of times, so put the sunshade over her head and she giggled away. She loves being outdoors with the wind in her hair - literally! The parks were really pretty - I had hoped to find a cache nearby to 'colour in' Idaho finally, but didn't see any nearby. There were lots of powerboats for sale lined up along the boardwalk - some worth a decent house deposit, some less so. We did a lap of the boardwalk and back, then packed ourselves back into the car and continued east.

We stopped in Missoula for lunch - we'll be staying here on our way back, so we were able to quickly scout out the hotel and the nearby streets. As we continued towards Butte, the smoke haze got thicker and thicker - there have been lots of wildfires in the area recently, and we saw a helicopter with a water bucket make a couple of runs over a nearby outbreak. I wasn't quick enough with my camera, but we saw a billboard sign near Rock Creek for the local "Testicle Festival" ... unfortunately it's all over for 2007, so we've obviously missed out!!

We passed through the worst of the haze, and the scenery around here is beautiful - lots of granite escarpments, pine trees (I think - they could be firs?) and picturesque barns just aching to have their photographs taken! Especially with the enhanced evening light from all the smoke in the air. We found the hotel in Butte, and popped into a Quiznos for dinner (still scarred from last night, no way we're going there again!). Isobel checked out her new digs for the night, and we did our bath-bed-tiptoe-outside routine again - only a few cries tonight, and tomorrow night we have a 2 bedroom suite so we don't have to sneak away to the hotel lobby again!

Only a short trip to Yellowstone tomorrow - our schedule shows less than three hours, so we'll be able to take our time. We might even pop into the park tomorrow afternoon and have a look around, as we can't check into the hotel until 4pm. Time to sign off - I seem to be making a habit of loitering in hotel lobbies, and it's about time to sneak back into our room for the night.

Day 1 - Spokane, WA

Ali — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 20:15:00 -0700

Another year, another road trip - I've still got a few weeks to catch up on with the blog though. Felt a bit guilty when Andy's father rang during the week to check we were OK because I hadn't posted any photos for a while. I'll get those up progressively over the next few days, wifi connections willing - but the photos will have to wait until we're home again as they're on the network.

First task on the list for today was to bolt down to Puyallup - I did a couple of last minute touch-ups on my entries for this year, and then Andy drove me down to the fairgrounds to drop them off. Two entries this year - one called "Bargello Beauty" and another called "Hexagon Wheels". Both are far more intricate than I've attempted before, but there are still things I could have done a little better ... I'll be interested to see how things fare this year.

Our trip this year feels quite different with a nearly-12mo in tow! Mum & Dad were a bit stressed this morning as we packed out cases, our methods are a little more haphazard than theirs but we still managed to fit everything in the car. Just as well we've upgraded from the Jeep, I don't think we'd have managed to fit everything otherwise. Very strange to wave Mum & Dad goodbye as we drove away, instead of the other way around!

The drive through Snoqualmie Pass was a real contrast from our trip last year - instead of snow and ice, everything was brown and dry - even after our mild summer. We crossed over the Columbia River and saw a turnoff to a 'Wild Horse' Monument ... several metal sculptures of wild horses out on a hill overlooking the river. Andy grabbed the camera for a few photos, and Isobel had some afternoon tea after having a bit of a snooze over the pass. The temperature was a fair bit warmer than we've been used to in Seattle, especially after a couple of hours in an air conditioned car.

We arrived in Spokane and found the hotel - apparently we were lucky to get a room for tonight, the hotel is booked out so we must have found one of the last few rooms when we booked earlier in the week. We found a family restaurant in walking distance for dinner - let's just say Isobel had a nicer dinner when we did, and hers was cold out of the jar ;-) Very average food, and we're going to avoid that chain from now on! We gave Isobel a bath and put her to bed in her portacot - once she quietened down, we tiptoed out and popped down to the lobby to plug in the laptop for email. We've brought the baby monitor along with us, and I was amazed to discover it was able to still pick up the base station in our room on the third floor from the hotel lobby!

Many of the hotels here have a cute practice of putting out cookies and milk in the evenings, so Andy and I have grabbed a coffee and some bikkies while we catch up on emails. We seem to have survived our first day - assuming Isobel sleeps through reasonably well tonight (at least better than she did at Whistler over Easter!). Tomorrow we're off to Butte in Montana via Idaho - another five hours' drive or so. Hopefully Isobel will enjoy the ride tomorrow as much as she seemed to today.

Two big achievements ...

Ali — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 22:16:00 -0700

Today was a busy day - we're off on another road trip out to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons tomorrow, so there is much preparation to be done. Add to the mix all the requirements for taking a baby along with us, and I have a funny feeling we'll need a Tardis to hold everything. Just as well we have a bigger car than our Jeep from the seven-state road trip last year ;-)

Today was also the opening day for the Evergreen State Fair - apparently Washington doesn't just have one 'state fair', but this one at least has 'state fair' in the name!! When I dropped off my entry last week, I was asked to come along today and sit at a demonstration table for a few hours - Andy was able to get some time off work, so we piled into the Mustang with Isobel and headed off.

Once at the fairgrounds, we found the crafts building - I'd been chatting with knittycent on Ravelry and quickly found her two entries, both with ribbons! Andy, however, was the first one to spot my afghan. His words? "Umm, Ali ... your afghan has a few ribbons on it!!"

Oh. My. Goodness.

Holy Cow.

Not only had I won a first place ribbon, there were two huge rosettes as well - Best in Show, and Grand Champion!! I felt like I'd won at the Royal Melbourne Show at home. Andy managed to eke out enough battery life from our little camera to take a quick photo. There were so many other beautiful crocheted pieces on display, I was so very proud to have been judged deserving of a win in such a high standard of competition. I then had to calm down a little and find the demonstration table I'd volunteered to work at for a few hours.

There was another lovely lady there already, working on a huge thread tablecloth that received lots of compliments from passers by. I laid out one of the strips for the afghan I'd started earlier in the week, and of course every school group of little kiddies that came past asked if I was making a scarf . Sigh.

Andy came past with Isobel a couple of times - once with a yummy Italian soda to keep me going, but Isobel was fed up by the second time and wanted out. I'd managed about 2 1/2 hrs of my four hour window, but another lady had shown up by then (hi Skosha!) and I felt reasonably comfortable that I wasn't abandoning my post ... not completely, anyway!

We wandered round for a little while longer - Isobel loved looking at the animals, and some of the 4H kids had some chickens out for petting ... they must have been very tame, Isobel screeched in delight and managed to touch the birds without grabbing handfuls of feathers. We headed home so I could call the mechanic and find out when the car would be ready - they'd managed to get most of the 'issues' fixed, but they charge like wounded bulls. Cars are very cheap to purchase here, because apparently the dealers get their money back in servicing charges. No wonder we see so many late-model cars broken down on the sides of freeways ... I guess a lot of people can't afford to keep them serviced regularly!!

The second big achievement for today? Isobel is officially walking. She'd taken a couple of short steps earlier this week, but today was the first day she managed to toddle about four feet along the carpet from Mummy to Daddy. We decided that was enough for her to 'qualify', so today will be duly marked in the baby book as Baby's First Steps.

Now we're really in trouble .

46 weeks old

Ali — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 16:49:00 -0700

We've had a fairly quiet week this week, as the rain has returned to Seattle leaving us somewhat housebound. We did manage to get out and about earlier in the week before the weather set in, taking Isobel out for an afternoon of caching with Mum & Dad. We were able to finally drop off a few travel bugs that we brought back from Australia on our last trip, and found our 600th cache ... more than five years after we started! Isobel also got a few more finds, she's almost into double figures .

I finally received my beta invitation to Ravelry this week - after reading so much about it and hearing reviews on some of the knitting podcasts I listen to, it was a bit like being admitted to a special club . I was lucky that I already had most of my knitting and crochet things from the last couple of years in Flickr, so it was just a matter of importing the photos and starting to sort out the pattern and yarn details - a lot of the hard work seems to have already been done. Even so, the crochet side of the house seems to be a little under-represented, so I'm doing my bit by volunteering as an editor - I've 'adopted' a lot of the crochet pattern books I've used for the afghans I've made in the last couple of years, and I'm slowly creating the pattern meta-data and filing it all away in the right part of the site's databases. There are so many wonderfully inspiring pieces listed already, and it's so nice to receive positive comments about my own work too!!

Isobel seems so much closer to walking this week - she's really taken to zipping around on the walker we got a few weeks ago. When she's fed up with the walker, she then crawls into the kitchen and starts pushing the kitchen chairs around on the floorboards!! She's even learned to duck her head from under the table ... so funny to watch, she has such a determined little look on her face. The little Fisher-Price dinosaur has also suddenly become interesting, after being ignored for most of the year - Isobel has finally realised her roll-a-rounds will fit in the holes and make a noise! We've also seen her stand independently for longer periods - several seconds at a time, before slowly sinking to her knees on the floor. She still seems to think she's faster crawling than walking, but she can zip from one side of the couch to the other if there's any snacks to be had . Mum and Dad are hoping they'll see a couple of steps before leaving on their first trip next week ... we'll see!!

45 weeks old

Ali — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 23:24:00 -0700

The weather has been unseasonably warm here this week - up in the 90s and 100s in some parts of Seattle! I've been doing all I can to keep the house cool, which is difficult when we don't have airconditioning - and the house builds up a lot of heat with consecutive warm days. At least the trees in our backyard provide some shade in the afternoon.

Isobel has managed pretty well so far, and has adapted to having a fan in her room - I think the noise has actually helped her sleep.We've also given her a little drink bottle with a straw, after seeing her response to our frappucinos recently ... she loves it! I've been putting a bit of cold water in there to start with, and she sucks down a few mouthfuls before dribbling the rest over her shirt and pants - but isn't that what kids do in the summer?!

Mum & Dad have arrived for another visit, and we picked them up from the airport on Thursday. A bit of hassle with their bags through Los Angeles - one suitcase made the flight, the other didn't. Dad filled out the paperwork and resigned himself to the loss, but luckily it turned up on our doorstep later in the evening.

Our big outing for the week was a night at the baseball - the Mariners were up against the Tigers, currently the top-ranked team in A.L. West. We weren't able to get seats in our regular spot from last year, so we got some other seats a little closer to third base - they turned out to be undercover, so my fears about Isobel getting too much sun were put to rest. It was a fantastic game, with the Mariners getting up in the end after a grand slam by Kenji Johjima. My game record is still intact - I've now been to six games here, and the Mariners have won every time!!

Isobel was incredibly well behaved for such a late night - she started off a bit grouchy once the game started and the crowd started cheering. Eventually she got used to the noise, and towards the end she was bouncing up and down in time to the music with a huge smile on her face - the other people around us were just amazed that she was still going after 10pm! She started fussing again when we were back in the car heading home, but settled to sleep pretty quickly once we made it home.

This weekend was also the annual Mustangs Northwest Roundup in Bellevue - which we missed last year due to our childbirth classes! We drove down on Sunday to have a look at all the Mustangs out on display - there were some incredibly well maintained cars on show, and seeing so many similar cars all lined up looked pretty special. The Roundup is billed as the "Worlds largest Annual gathering of Mustangs", and at a guess there must have been at least several hundred cars in the various car parks around the College. Quite an opportunity to walk around and see the different interpretations, and Andy got a few ideas for our Mustang (which is finally home again!) and the remaining things on his to-do list in the garage.

With the warmer weather this week, we've had some wonderful evenings outside. The BBQ is getting some use again, but we seem to have missed the window for getting the kiddie pool set up - the temperatures have dropped back to 70s and 80s again, so the water will be a bit cold for Isobel's footsies. The forecasters are predicting rain again next week - back to normal for Seattle!

10 months old

Ali — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 22:20:00 -0700

A busy week for us this week - summer finally feels like it has arrived, and Andy took a couple of days off work to get us a long weekend.

Isobel is ten months old already, and has really amped up the volume in the last couple of weeks! There's a lot of "baa-baa-baa-BAA-BAA-BAA!", with different tonal inflections and volume levels. She has taken to peering out the window in the dining area near our kitchen, where she can see out into the back yard - we have a robin that appears regularly to dig for worms, and a little rabbit that is making the most of the long grass towards the back of the yard. The bottom part of the glass is now covered in teeny tiny handprints and nose grease from pressing her face to the glass - I also caught her doing a blowfish against the window during the week, where on earth did she learn that from?! .

The 'Latte' roster has switched to summer mode, so we now meet up in a different park every couple of weeks. This week was at the Newcastle beach, which we've driven past so many times but never actually visited. We had a nice bit of shade under a large tree, and I was able to catch up with everyone and talk about our travel adventures from the trip back to Australia. I made sure to lather Isobel up in sunscreen, but headed home when the older kiddies started dropping hints to respective parents about going for a swim. Isobel crashed in the car on the way home, and I even managed to get her to have a bit more of a sleep once we made it home ... excellent!!

This week was also the July 4th holiday, and like last year we had an invitation to Mark and Nichole's house by the lake for a BBQ and fireworks. Andy stopped off at a fireworks vendor on the way there to stock up on supplies, after a poor showing last year - he was determined to make a bigger impact this time!! Mark and Nichole have a beautiful house by a lake in the Maple Valley area, and Mark had built his own water bomb slingshot for the jetty to compete with the neighbours' efforts this year. We had a wonderful afternoon - Andy took a couple of the older kiddies for a ride in his kayak, right out into the middle of the lake which they thought was great fun. We dressed Isobel in her little rashie set from home, and she got to paddle in the water with Daddy for the first time - the initial shock of cold water set off a few tears, but after that she seemed pretty comfortable and had a bit of a splash around while sitting on Daddy's lap. She didn't seem to like floating, but was OK if her feet were on the pebbles or something else solid.

Once again, the soundtrack for the afternoon was provided by Mark's neighbours - who seemed intent on setting off fireworks throughout the whole day, even during daylight!! I was surprised that Isobel didn't seem fazed by the noise, and hoped it would bode well for the evening. She wasn't interested in taking a nap with so many people to look at, and she didn't sleep in the car on the trip to Mark's house from our place like we'd hoped ... so I wasn't really surprised when she started crying after the first few fireworks were set off after dark. I tried reassuring her and wrapping her in a blanket on my shoulder, but I think the percussive 'boom' from the explosions was the final straw - as well as being tired, everyone was cheering and in the end things just got a bit much for her. I retreated inside for the duration, and we were able to watch most of the display from a downstairs window - she seemed much happier indoors away from the noise.

Andy finished off his collection of explosives , and was much happier with the results than last year's efforts. We headed home, and Isobel dropped off to sleep in the back pretty quickly. We were able to transfer her into her PJs and her bed without too many problems.

Andy took Thursday and Friday off from work to give us a long weekend, so we headed into Seattle on Thursday to take Isobel to the Woodland Park Zoo. We'd visited there a couple of years ago, and thought Isobel was now old enough to get something out of a visit herself. The budgie aviary was a big hit - Andy was one of the few people inside that were tall enough to reach the branches where the budgies were sitting. He managed to entice one onto a seed stick, and carefully brought it down for Isobel to have a look ... she sure can wriggle when she wants something!! It was all Andy could do to hold her far enough away so she couldn't grab the poor bird - a few more inches of reach and the budgie might have got a shock . We also spent some time at the petting zoo section, which had a few goats and a bunny - Andy had to hang on pretty tight to keep Isobel from launching herself at the goats in her excitement! She still hasn't quite got the hang of 'gentle' patting yet, but luckily the animals seemed pretty placid and didn't mind being grabbed too much.

On Saturday we headed back into Seattle to visit the Aquarium - we hadn't actually been here ourselves yet. They've recently opened a big 'Window on Washington Waters' display, a huge 120,000 gallon tank with a large glass window to look through. Most people were nice enough to give us a bit of room to let Isobel look at the fishies - she was much more animated than last time we looked at a fishtank! She seemed to have a great time, and also provided a lot of entertainment for some of the other visitors ("Aww, look at her, isn't she cute?!"). We won't bother getting a fish tank here, but we might have to get one when he head home again!!

43 weeks old

Ali — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 19:34:00 -0700

A pretty quiet week this week - Isobel had her nine-month well child checkup with the pediatrician, and all is well. She's now 19lbs 6.5oz, and around 28in tall ... I suspect even a little taller, as she wriggled and writhed on the table when the nurse tried to measure her top-to-toe length! Thankfully no needles this time, although we did have to get some blood taken to check her iron levels - a standard test for babies who have started on solids, to ensure they're getting enough iron in their diet. The phlebotomist (who came up with that name for the profession?!!) took some blood from her finger into three little glass tubes, then wrapped a couple of bandaids around. I was instructed to wait back in the waiting room for a few minutes for the bleeding to stop and then remove the bandaids, as they were choking hazards for babies in carseats. Isobel managed to chew the bandaids off before the lance point had clotted over, so I had to go back in for a second set of bandaids!! She then sat and watch the Nemo fishies swim round and round in the fish tank, and soon everything had healed enough for me to take her home again.

On Saturday we were invited by Ash and Denise to their house for a BBQ - they've moved from their old apartment in town to a new house, and the boys looked very much at home running around in the backyard and playing in the dirt!! They were a bit uncertain about Isobel invading their space - Dylan is a bit older, and stayed pretty much away, but Tyler was very sweet and kept offering toys for Isobel to play with on her picnic mat! Isobel had a great time roaring around on the grass and nearly made it to the garden beds a couple of times ... yoinked away in the nick of time, much to her disappointment . Michael and Ken started kicking a soccer ball around, and Isobel was entranced ... so I thought she should join in!! I held her under her arms, and then swung her feet like a pendulum to 'kick' the ball - she laughed and laughed and laughed, which set everyone else laughing as well. I thought she might find the hold a bit awkward, but she didn't want to stop for dinner in the end! We did have a wonderful dinner, and it was great to catch up with everyone again after being away for a few weeks.

After Isobel's response to the soccer ball, we thought we'd better get her one of her own - so she's now got an 'inside' ball and an 'outside' ball. The inside one is just a beach volleyball, with nice soft fabric that isn't going to mark the walls if things get boisterous . She hasn't done much with it yet apart from trying to chew it, but it's still a fair bit bigger than she is!!