Lovely Pics

Daddy and Isla at Zoo on Hogmany looking at turtles

Mummy and Isla at Zoo

Naughty teddy sitting on Isla's seat!

Isla encounters a Tunnocks Teacake for first time

Isla's 1st Brithday

Happy New Year everyone! Once again apologies for the delay in updating our blog - our laptop broke down and we had to buy a replacement. So finally we are back online and can set about the business of uploading more photos and videos for you to see.

We had a lovely Christmas and New Year thanks and we celebrated Isla's 1st Birthday just last week. She opened her presents in the morning (thank you for lovely presents sent!) and then in the afternoon we had her Aunties Simone and Nicole round to visit and we all ate cake. Then on the weekend we had a picnic for Isla at the local park. All Julia's family came as well as some of our friends in Melbourne and a few of the mums from her Mother's group. It was nice to catch up with everyone, though it was just a little chilly in the park that morning - a reprieve from the crazy weather we've had this summer in Melbourne where the temperatures have been getting up to 40c or more at times.

Have you seen pictures of the bushfires in the news? It has been a big deal here in Oz this summer. We've had a wet winter which got all the plants growing and then a super hot summer, so perfect bushfire conditions. They've had to invent 2 new colours for their weather chart: purple for above 50c and pink for above 53c! Basically the center of Australia is melting and soon Ayres Rock will just be a pool of goo. They've had bad bushfires all across Australia but its been worst in New South Wales and Tasmania. Fortunately not many people have been killed this year - they have learnt many lessons from Black Saturday, but many houses have been lost.
I'm glad to report that there have been no bushfires in Essendon so we are quite safe.

Christmas Day was pretty relaxed this year. We had a Christmas Brunch at Mark and Nicole's house in the morning and met up with the rest of Julia's family there. And then Julia and I had her parents for Christmas dinner in the afternoon. I cooked a turkey roll and a glazed honey roast ham - my first ever time cooking Christmas dinner. It went really well but I can't imagine trying to cook for more than 4 people; it takes a lot of work.

We had a quiet New Year the week after. Paul, Simone, Claire and baby Nate came round for dinner. We had takeaway noodles and some sparkling wine and watched the 'kids' fireworks on the TV at 9pm. We didn't manage to stay up till midnight this year, not when we knew we would have to get up at 6am to see to Isla. That's ok - we've had plenty of crazy New Years in the past.

I am back at work again but I had a big long holiday over the Christmas period - I had 3 weeks off. The surgery I work in shut down for the festive period and as I've discovered this is quite normal in Australia. Because Christmas and New Year are in the middle of Summer, many people take it as a long summer holiday and head to the beach. We haven't made it to the beach yet this year but we did have some nice trips to the Zoo and to Ballarat. The Zoo was quite a hit actually, and Isla was very taken with the lions - she has been making roaring noises ever since.

Isla has started walking! Last week she took her first tentative steps by herself and each day now she manages to walk a little further. I will get a video uploaded asap so you can see for yourself. Other than walking Isla has been brushing her teeth, mopping the floor, eating bolognese, watching 'In The Night Garden', tickling Daddy, making cow and sheep noises, trying to feed herself with a spoon, sleeping better at night, playing in her sandpit, eating grass and leaves, throwing a ball and biting Julia. Her teeth are taking a long time to come through and they are driving her mad.