Sunny weeks in April

you might notice Isla has new shoes...Charlie ate the last pair....

If she can walk, Mum thinks she can use the toilet...we're going to give it a try..The scar on her face is from a branch she had a little fight with while dad was babysitting today. Usually one to take her shoes off, she refused to take her crocs off by dinner and we had to forceably remove them. Lovin the Tiger at the Safari park. He was making lots of noise as he roamed around.
We've tried to "baby-fy" the kitchen. She loves getting into these cupboards at ever available opportunity. The pots and pans are in them. She's only tried to climb in once....
Our graceful walker....


We've had a lovely week in Scotland. Temperatures have been almost in the 70s and its been sunny. We made the most of the weather and have been out of the house a lot. Monday we decided to go visit Marilyn and Shuggy (the goats who went to live at the Safari park after they did LOTS of damage to various vehicles at the farm, including Kenna's Volvo) at Blair Drummond Safari Park. It's no Animal Kingdom but a fun day out. We found the goats who were sunning themselves, but Isla prefered the tiger who made lots of noise and come over to see her. She got a kick out of the ducks, the wallabies and the ostrich which she could see from her car seat in the part you drive through. She couldn't figure out seals or the mercats and why they didn't respond to her. It was a fight to keep her hat on the whole day.

Tuesday we got Isla all dressed up and she went to Grannie's house for professional pictures (in between spits of rain). She looked very cute in her little green & blue dress, but had a real issue trying to crawl around (hence the shot above where she is doing her "tripod" walk--that's how she moves in a dress...tres ladylike!). Mom's also realised the importance of "cheerleader panties" for little girls as Isla seems to spend 1/2 her time on her backside, usually hunting for gravel.

Wednesday she got dressed up again and was cosmopolitan as she and mum headed into Glasgow to meet up with Kenna's friend from Chicago and her two boys. Levi, who is 5 months old, was fascinated by Isla and Isla loved Max's piano toys. They walked around the west end and went to the Botanic Gardens. Isla fell in love with the floor as it's tiny, tiny shiney stones all paved down. She actually laid down and licked it, much to Kenna's friend Molly's horror. We just chalk her up to having a VERY healthy immune system. Isla loved the echo in the middle and all the flowers and stones about. Unlike her ability to see seals under water, she though the coy fish were great and kept saying "da, da, da"...which we assume is due to her "bonding" with dad watching fishing shows. She's a very smart girl :)

Thursday we let her sleep and recover because Friday Mum, Grannie and Isla headed back into Glasgow for the Baby Show and some shopping at John Lewis (A big traditional department store). Isla enjoys train rides, so she can "hiya" to everyone she sees, and this trip she found the added bonus of playing with Grannie's handbag and purse. Somewhere in it all, our train tickets got lost (a problem as you need them to get out of the train station), but we managed to get by okay. It was a nice trip with Grannie as an extra pair of hands always makes the day more laid back. (and Grannie wore a fleece with a zip that kept Isla entertained for quite awhile). We got Isla some summer onesies and more cheerleader panties at John Lewis and had a nice lunch as they have a Quiznos' in Glasgow--HOORAH! (they don't do a Black Angus sub though :(

It's been a nice week out and about and Isla has been a little trooper throughout. She gets tired, but is still a plesant little girl...she just crashes the second you put her in her car seat. The dogs have had their share of love though as Isla has taken to wrestling or just napping on top of Charlie now and they've gotten to go for mum's morning walks with neighbour Anne.

The turkey hens are sitting on eggs, so we wonder when we'll have baby turkeys out in the run...but for now we're just enjoying the sunshine and getting ready for our summer guests and making lists of all the things Kenna misses from the states for them to bring with :)

Walking

Here's a random picture of Isla, mom and some sheep...
Isla, and her new found walking skills means she can go ALL OVER. This morning in the office she found a lanyard and decided it was really a lead for Charlie (who was perfectly content sitting at mom's feet). Isla puts it over Charlie's head and then tries to prod Charlie off the floor so she can "walk" her around the house, while saying "Good Girl" (a phrase used a lot here with 3 female dogs and a baby girl). Charlie puts up with it all...guess the highchair scraps are worth the hassle. Kiwi just hides.

Easter

,CHOCOLATE BUNNIES.....always the lady, she has her pinky up...

Leaving the Catheral, just about running...
Oooooo, Cadbury...(see the giant tea cup behind her)
The chirping prarie dog...people here pay money to see them, skunks, raccoons, and chickens...but kids love them! Even if Isla tried to eat the feed..
Isla, Luke and the Tadpoles.

We had a nice Easter and went to the Cathedral with Grannie. Isla wasn't too impressed by the brass band, but Alisdair was. They ended the service by playing "Down by the Riverside" and it seems the head minister bet the assistant that she wouldn't dance down the aisle...she didn't, but it was an upbeat way to end a Sunday service.

Isla sported one of her many new dresses and had a great time chewing the chocolate ears off a Lindt bunnie that Grannie gave her. We gave her an Easter card with Winnie the Pooh on it, and that was about as excited as she got. Grannie gave us a GIANT teacup that is actually an herb garden, and Neighbour Anne gave Isla a Cadbury Egg (Emily, are you jealous??)

On Saturday as Alisdair was working, mom, Isla and Grannie went up to Auchengarrich Wildlife Park and saw lots of animals. We'd have pictures if mom had remembered to charge the camera battery, but unfortunately the only picture we got was of a prairie dog...but Isla learned that cows say "mooo" (But she sort of hums it and puts her bottom lip up over the top one---they were Highland coos...maybe the do say that?), and was impressed by the giant pigs, hundreds of prairie dogs, smelly ferral goats, and the baby chicks (although she was a little rough with them). It was a weekend of glorious weather and we tried to get as much sun as we could. Isla, being 1/2 Troup, seems to have inherited the "brown" gene and has turned a lovely light brown shade, rather than Maughan-lobster red. WHOO-HOO for her! She's got a better tan than her mother right now (but that's not saying much)

In other big news, today she had to go have her 13 month injections. Kenna, forever the wimp, still can't handle holding Isla for injections and so good old neighbour Anne came along. While we were in the waiting room a little boy named Alfred came over. He was 12 1/2 months old and was all about being nice to Isla. She obviously was quite taken with him, because all of the sudden, she left Anne's hand and just started walking! 8 steps, then 10, then she was just walking behind Alfred. He did try to give her a cuddle...but she was more interested in the buttons on his jumper. His mom was Polish (?) and very friendly. After we got home Isla continued walking about and was only too happy to show Dad her new skill when he got home from work (before he went looking for Kiwi who had escaped from the backyard while Isla was on her swing and playing with mom). She already loves playing in water (especially toilets)...so this new "skill" is going to mean mom needs to get even faster at getting to her...if only Charlie had a "danger" alert like Dingo has...

The weather wasn't as nice today as its been, but Alidsair has got the lawn mowed, the turkeys have a new roost and the trees are starting to bud. All very pretty.

We're starting to see Isla look more like a little person than a baby these days and her personality is certainly coming out as she is learning to say more and more. The other day she was upset and just started crying, complete with hands over her eyes, sobbing...she also started "Thayer" screaming (Kenna's nephew who had this blood curdling scream from birth), but when we looked at her like "what's that about?" she stopped and went on her way...our little Thespian!

We're all very excited to meet Mary Victoria, Isla's new younger cousin! Hopefully we'll make it to NH this summer and get to see "the baby" as we now call Mary, since Isla is quickly growing out of that stage...

OH! We almost forgot to mention Isla's "boyfriend." Neighbour Anne's nephew came to visit. He's 8 and the nicest kid on earth. We went swimming and on the way Luke held Isla's hand (okay Isla held Luke's finger) in the car...and all the way into the pool. For the rest of the week, Isla preferred to have someone walk next to her pram so she could hold their hand. It was cute...Luke had a great time catching tadpoles at the farm.

We've got a Toddler!

aMy first knee cut

OOOOHHHH..a string among the gravel...Her new vocabulary words this week are "Up" (thanks to daddy) and "on"....she knows the rule is "hat ON" when we are outside, but likes to take it "OFF" just to see what reaction she gets. She can also say "Charlie," "Anne," (which sounds like her other favourite A word.."Apple"), "duck" and do all her animal sounds....including turkeys! Our young zoologist :)
She's dropped Charlie's lead, but trying to catch Kiwi...
Ah....hugs for Charlie....

It seems that this week Isla has changed from a baby to a toddler. She got her first cut knee and some whopping bruises from falling into things (a bedside table, her playpen, etc). She doesn' t seem to find her falls, but we cringe as she biffs it fairly regularly. She is also quite the comedian. Her new "fun" is hugging (cuddling as they say in Scotland). She cuddles with Charlie, with Cassie, with Daddy, with neighbour Anne, with Grannie...anybody that she feels like. It's cute and does make you feel like she is understanding what you say and do with her. Her arms can almost go around Daddy's head...

Her other new favourite past time is gravel....yes, gravel....it's fascinating, to eat, to look at, to feel, to throw....so, the other day mommy gave up trying to discourage this and just took her (in her play suit---FANTASTIC inventions in Scotland--just like snowsuits but made for water so she can sit anywhere and go anywhere outside she likes and we don't worry about her getting muddy, dirty or wet) over to Neighbour Anne's house to play. Anne wasn't home, but Isla was mostly interested in Anne's gravel driveway and path. We spent over an hour outside as Isla just sifted through gravel and mom picked gravel off Anne's lawn that had been thrown there during our snow shoveling. The dogs enjoyed it as well.

Isla now insists on walking the dogs every day (however she sometimes "forgets" she's supposed to hold the lead) and is very good at asserting herself. She has also learned to drink from a juice bottle. One day when we were out Kenna found these bottles that are 1/2 orange/pear juice and 1/2 water (made for kids). Isla adores them and is quite proud of her new skill. As she is such a ham, she "bops" around when she is excited about something. The picture on the kitchen floor is a bit fuzzy as she was "bopping" in happiness about her juice.

We've had another week of great weather over here. Long may it continue! The turkeys are now in the big hen run and the dogs are enjoying their added walks now that its lighter longer. Cassie did take off yesterday to the pub when we put her outside so we could hoover...we found her eventually though...