Learning from a pro!

Caption Competition!?

Catriona and Isobel enjoying a Highland breeze!

Isobel is 'talking'!

http://sandcscotland.blogspot.com

Isobel has taken to chatting quite a bit recently. This one is while in her car seat somewhere near Kilchurn Castle in Argyll (in the Highlands) on our way home from Rua Reidh last weekend. Catriona had to signal to me through the rearview mirror to stop talking while she was filming this on her phone. Great jumper Granny!

This video is of Isobel in her Moses basket, again chatting away at the world. She talks when she's comfortable, relaxed, and in a familiar place looking at familiar people!

All this 'talking' is so great. We're sure she's going to be a chatterbox.

Our Sweet Pea

Tuckered out after hanging with her 6 friends at their first Halloween party this afternoon. The costume is not car seat compatible, but thanks to Auntie Fiona her feet were kept warm in Halloween style.

Grandparents Galore

Granny, Mummy, Isobel and Grandma

Gramps, Isobel, Granny, Grandpa and Grandma

Sterling's folks and Daddy with Isobel (looking a bit glaikit)

The combined grandparents plus us with Isobel at my parents in St Andrews.

Out for a stroll in our local park. Grandma learns to drive the pram.

Love

Fun in the East Neuk of Fife

Yesterday, still on holiday with my parents, we had an afternoon out in nearby Anstruther, a fishing village (http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/anstruther/anstruther/index.html) with some delectable fish and chip shops. Keen to get some fresh air, we first of all bundled Isobel up in her pram to walk around the walled garden at Kellie Castle (http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/38/) and admired their verdant garden full of autumnal vegetables and apples. They have an apple store in a small stone built shed which is hardly high enough to stand up in but it smelt lovely, I wish I could bottle the smell of autumn! We enjoyed their tea room and Isobel kindly slept for that part of the outing! She enjoyed her first feed in a castle, luckily we found a room with a heater as it's getting colder now. Later on, we enjoyed an al fresco dinner with Isobel not so sleepy as you can see from the photos and her next meal took place in the car!

We're having fun in St Andrews, it's so nice not to have any housework or cooking to do - thanks mum and dad! We've been spoiled, Isobel will always enjoy coming here as there are already toys and books for her entertainment.



Isobel looking shocked as she watched seagulls & giving us a smile with a blurred Granny

Anstruther, sunset at 6.30pm

Afternoon treat

Kellie Castle

Harvest Time Holiday for Isobel and Mummy

Lovely, a picture of autumn at a local farm


















































In her great great granny's armchair (with a temperature...)















Enjoying coffee shop culture with Mummy the day Daddy flew to the States, she was on a leather couch, I was knitting!

It's my favourite time of year - the fields are being harvested, the leaves are turning, the nights are clear and starry and the heating might have to be switched on! I even picked a pocket full of brambles on Monday morning when I was out for a baby-free walk. Sadly Sterling is missing the Scottish autumnal days but he is instead enjoying the mid western fall! He has been telling me about the maple syrup and beautiful leaves...sounds lovely and tasty! Isobel and I are staying with my parents for the 10 days he is away, and we are enjoying ourselves now that Isobel has got over her 1st cold and her 1st immunisations. Calpol to the rescue! We're enjoying our seaside holiday in St Andrews, it's great to have the company, help and cooking provided by mum and dad. Isobel is being a wee star and I try to make sure she doesn't wake everyone up in the night!

The nappy experiment continues, I LOVE cloth nappies. She's been in Tots Bots organic cotton or bamboo and cotton Motherease for a week now and it's going really well. They are much nicer on her skin than disposables. For the next few weeks we are testing some nappies that come in a loan pack from our local real nappy network (anybody local out there reading this who is interested in finding out more contact Kelly ( email kelly@forthenvironmentlink.org, who is the project officer at the Forth Valley Real Nappy Network, she can tell you absolutely everything you could ever want to know about real nappies and can loan you some to try out). Isobel is currently sporting a very sweet pale yellow all-in-one nappy that is a birth-to-potty style made by...Bum Genius - what a name! We're also trying Snappi Nappi, Wonderoo, Nature Baby and Tots Bots. Included in our pack are some washable wipes made from bamboo. I really like the sustainability aspect of real nappies but also the fact that the companies who make them are committed to being eco-friendly, the wipes are off-cuts from the boosters they make to line the nappies. Bamboo takes a while to dry but it's extremely soft, absorbant and naturally anti-bacterial. Also, it is more sustainable to grow than cotton.

Granny and Grandpa have been looking after Isobel and I very well, we are so grateful. I suspect they thought their days of being up half the night with a baby who didn't want to lie down were over, they made a valiant and much-appreciated effort. Granny even takes the dirty nappies and washes them for us! The morning after Isobel's 48 hours of being ill with a cold and a temperature, she got into bed beside them and threw up everywhere - oops! I took it as a sign that she was better as she smiled afterwards....Granny has made sure that she has had lots of fresh air, and like me, a December baby (!!), she has had some sleeps outside in her pram wrapped in her wool cardigans and wool blankets. Currently she is admiring Granny's extensive finger puppet collection & new puppet theatre with some dodgy Cliff Richard music in the background! Oh, the fun we will have here when she is older.

Smiles are coming more frequently now, mostly at random moments such as on the changing table (we'd like to think it was because she was looking at the photo of Daddy we propped up for her) or 2 minutes after her immunisations yesterday when she went from purple rage to sweet smiles for the GP! She does most of her smiling in the wee small hours when she feeds which definitely keeps me going!