9 Months!
Isla turned nine months on Tuesday and is getting busier and busier every day. 
She mastered taking off her bib a while ago and now when she takes it off gives me what can only be described as a defiant look! Little monkey. She has recently learned to undo the velcro on her nappies and likes to do that at every opportunity. She can even do it through a onesie! Not very helpful. Her latest favorite game is taking things out of baskets, bags, cupboards, drawers, etc.
Here she is in Paul’s office, she walked herself over to the shelf and had a great time taking down all the soft toy whales.
Bathtime is still a favorite activity as you can see from these photos.
She has been doing a great job feeding herself and is starting to actually get the spoon in her mouth with food on it. Here she is drinking juice from a sippy cup.
Back to Work For Everyone
This week we were all back to work, Isla to help Paul in his office, Paul back to being full-time Dad and also working at his office and me back to school. Monday children are back to school and we have all been extremely busy at school getting classrooms sorted, organizing schedules and planning lessons. Seward Elementary did really well last year with the State wide testing and we were all awarded an incentive bonus. A nice perk to start the year with since all teachers were given $2,500. A fairly controversial initiative which will not be continued next year.
Here are Paul and Isla ready to walk to work on Monday morning, (notice the flowers I grew from seed this year!).
This afternoon we went out for lunch, Isla especially enjoyed the straw. I included a couple of photos to show off all her long hair and one that shows her front teeth!
Isla has been working hard on her crawling but isn’t making much progress except backwards with a creeping. She is getting pretty quick at that though and can move across the floor in no time. She is a bit like a seasaw, when one end goes up the other goes down, like in this photo when she is trying to get her knees up!
Isla Telling Stories
Untitled from AlaskaNewZealand.com on Vimeo.
First Fire!
Paul and I have been living in this house for over two years and have never used the fire place. We had ideas of making it a gas fire (more efficient and less mess) but when we checked out gas options in Anchorage the other day it was going to cost heaps more than we thought. So last night it was pouring down with rain and we decided to try it out. As you can see both Paul and Evie are very happy with the results!
Out and About
We have had a busy few days. On Tuesday Isla and I joined a few other Mums and babies and walked part of the Harding Icefield Trail. Here is Isla enjoying cuddles with Jenn.
Later that day, Paul, Isla and I all drove to Anchorage and spent Wednesday back to school shopping in the big city. Here is Evie playing in one of the shopping bags when we got home. 
This morning Isla and I went to toddlers playtime at the Avetec gym. Here are a few photos of Isla trying out some of their fun toys. She especially liked the walker and made her way (backwards) around half the gym!
Paul got some more chicks recently, Isla has been very interested in them and they don’t seem too worried by her.
How the Heck Am I Suppose to Eat These?!
How the Heck Am I Suppose To Eat These?! from AlaskaNewZealand.com on Vimeo.
Isla’s New Silly Face
Isla has started making a new face when she wants to be funny and silly. It involves screwing her face up and then snorting through her nose, charming! We really need to get a video of it for you to get the full effect but in the mean time here is a photo!
Here we are ready for the first Friday art walk.
Here is Isla helping with the gardening.
Newly unearthed family photo from 1984
Paul top, April middle, Isla bottom
Isla Suppose to be Sleeping
Isla Suppose to be Sleeping from AlaskaNewZealand.com on Vimeo.
Sunny Sunday
Finally after weeks of rainy weather we have had three days in a row of beautiful sunshine! Sunday we had a nice brunch outside in the sun with the Tougas family (minus Rachel who is over on Kodiak Island at the moment). Isla actually kept her sunglasses on for a while, so naturally a photo opportunity!
Paul, Isla and I went for a nice walk out near Exit Glacier, we checked out the ripeness of the berries but it looks like it will be another week at least until they are ripe. Hopefully some lovely sunny days will help!
This morning we found signs of a bear on our front porch in the night. It had knocked over our planter filled with herbs and walked right through one of our gardens and left big footprints. We have been keeping our door deadbolted at night because there have been a few bears in town coming into people’s homes. People have been reporting their bear sightings on Paul’s site Seward City News (www.sewardcitynews.com) and posting photos, if you are interested go to the site and click on ‘Bear Watch’ on the right hand bar.