Yum Yum

Isla's latest trick is to stick this toy in her mouth like it's a lollypop or something and wander around. It's quite funny to watch. She hunts it out of the toybox, sticks it in her mouth and off she goes. If it drops, she will stop... pick it up... stick it back in her mouth before moving on to her next destination.

A day in the sunshine

Come join me!

Boing!

Boing!

Boing!

Summer is fast approaching... YAY! It's great to finally see some sunshine and feel some warmth again. Isla's toes have discovered grass and her chubby legs are getting the chance to see some sunlight :) We were in Palmy North last weekend and it was such a beautiful day that we pulled the Jolly Jumper out and spent some time in Nana & Pa's garden. Primo!

8 months

Playtime
Where's the baby?

Hmmm... you're supposed to be sleeping!

Someone doesn't look very sleepy

Watching TV

Happy (Belated) Birthday Aunty Sachi

It's 3 days late... but HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTY SACHI!

Hope you got our present that we only just mailed yesterday (hehe!). We miss you lots and can't wait to see you again xx

Happy Birthday Caleb

The amazing (and delicious!) birthday cake made by Molly

Isla loves her cousin Caleb

Yup - that's grounded... it's a try!

5th Sept... Isla turns 7months & Caleb turns 8!

Caleb turned 8 on 5th September. He celebrated with 25 friends at tenpin bowling & minigolf followed by a lunch at Burger King. After that, the family headed back to Molly & Mark's house to have a bbq & and a few drinks. Caleb got loads of cool presents & he had a super day. It was extra special cos Aunty Nina came from USA and Uncle Lima surprised us with a visit from Sydney!

On a sadder note...Poor Isla ended up in Starship Childrens Hospital the next day with a high fever & suspected bladder infection. She had a catheter inserted (ouch!) and fortunately it wasn't a bladder infection rather just a viral throat infection. She was really fussy & grumpy for a few days and is only just coming right now. Bit of a scare for us... but Isla seemed to take it all in her stride!

Where is Isla?

Peekaboo!

Where did she go?

The crucifix pose!

Isla has been swaddled since birth to help her sleep. Now that she is becoming more mobile we are trying to wean her off the swaddle... with some difficulty! We have tried pretty much everything books & experts have recommended. We tried one arm out, one arm swaddled - only to wake up the next morning to scratches & cuts all down one side of her head from her scratching all night! We finally decided to just go 'cold turkey' and have been putting her to sleep without any swaddle. It's taking a while for her to get used to having her arms free... which leads to some really funny poses! She's waking up more during the night but we'll persevere and hopefully she'll get the hang of it quickly!

Eating, Rolling & Sitting

Frozen fruity iceblocks... yum!

This is what happens when Daddy feeds me!

Mmmmm....

Isla is now 6 and a half months old... where has the time gone?

She has started eating solids - we noticed that she was gnawing her fingers after being fed and stuffing anything she could get her hands on into her mouth! So we tried her on some rice cereal and she gobbled it up! Since then we have tried apple, pear, pumpkin, carrot, kumara and now banana. I think Isla is a 'savoury' girl as she prefers veggies to fruit... altho now that her teeth are bothering her we give her frozen pieces of fruit puree and SHE LOVES IT! Fruity iceblocks - yum!

Isla is a real pro at rolling now... it is her preferred method of getting from A to B and she will often do multiple rolls at once! It was a bit of a shock to the system when I put her on the mat and went to the kitchen to get her food ready and when I came back she was over by the speakers! She will start crawling any day now... uh oh, time to 'baby proof' the house!

Nana Michi's birthday

Beautiful flowers from Aunty Sachi

(and beautiful cake by Isla!)

Nana had a hard time blowing out the candles... we needed Micah the expert candle blower!

I couldn't work out how to edit the last post :( Here are some pics of Nana's birthday. She got TWO bouquets of flowers from Papa & Aunty Sachi and a book voucher from Papa. We were supposed to shout her dinner at Miyabi but everyone is feeling sick so Nana took a raincheck and we had nachos at home instead. Isla baked a vanilla cake & iced it herself... that's why the writing is all wobbly - Isla is only little and just learning how to write... honestly!

Happy Birthday Nana Michi

Go shorty, it's ya birthday... ya gonna party like it's ya birthday!! :)

It's Nana Michi's birthday today... Happy 65th birthday! :D Isla is very lucky to have her Nana Michi around to spoil her! We are all going to Miyabi Sushi tonight help Nana celebrate her special day... tempura & sashimi here we come!! :D

Happy Birthday Nana Leti

The Auva'a clan (missing Aunty Nina & Uncle Tim)

Nana Leti and her grandkids
(Isla giving lil Leti 'the look' cos she's crying!)

Nana Leti and her boys

Fun times in Palmy North

Aunty Alethea & Uncle Lima

Choo Choo... miniature train at Botanical Gardens

Hanging out with Pa & Nana Leti

August is a busy month for us... Papa's birthday on the 3rd, Nana Leti's birthday on the 6th, Uncle Tim's birthday on the 7th, Nana Michi's birthday on the 9th and Mama's birthday on the 25th!

We spent the weekend in Palmy North celebrating an early birthday for Nana Leti... Aunty Molly, Uncle Mark, Kiera & Caleb from Auckland were there, Uncle Lima & Aunty Alethea from Sydney were there and we also got to see Uncle Jase, Aunty Bex and lil Leti.

Fun, fun, fun! We rode a miniature train at Botanical Gardens, ate some yummy food and got lots n lots of cuddles.

Happy (REAL) Birthday Papa!

Happy Birthday Papa!

Funnily enough as I sit here writing this, Papa is nowhere to be seen... he's been in hospital all day visiting with his good friend Mulo Sasa. So we've eaten a yummy bday dinner & bday cake and ice cream... all without Papa! :) Never mind... Nana actually said Papa didn't even remember it was his birthday this morning! Old age must be catching up... ;)

Happy Birthday Papa!

Micah taking over Papa's cake!

Isla having her first singing lesson

Happy birthday to who?

Getting ready to blow out the candles.... again!

We celebrated Papa's birthday a little bit earlier this year. We decided to make the most of the opportunity that Sachi & Mark & Micah were visiting so we planned an evening outing of ten pin bowling followed by mom's homemade sukiyaki.

Key word: PLANNED!

Everyone ended up sleeping (incl the birthday boy) so we missed out on bowling but had a yummy dinner instead followed by yummy choco cake from Nada.

Micah had a great time blowing out the candles again and again (we had to relight the candles at least 4 times!) and Isla was fascinated by the singing & candles. Poor Papa didn't get any presents - I guess he will have to wait until his actual birthday for that!

My cousin Patileti Mikayla Auva'a

My lil cousin Patileti Mikayla Auva'a was born on 9th June to proud parents Aunty Bex & Uncle Jason. We are hoping that these two gals will be the best of friends!

Visiting Mama

Mano'o Mulitalo family (missing Uncle Matthew, Aunty Rachel & Madison and Tolly)

Great Grandmother Mama, Isla & Papa

Mama sharing her cream bun with Isla

Aunty Sachi brought this cool booster seat for Isla!

Cousin Micah & Aunty Sachi

Isla on the plane ready to take off (only screamed a few times!)

We all went to Auckland last week to visit Mama. It was great to see the cousins, aunties, uncles & family members again - a bonus was that Sachi, Mareko & Micah flew over from Sydney so we got to hang out with them as well.

Everyone is doing well... the littlies are not so little anymore and there's a whole new generation of Mulitalo youngsters taking over! Mama is stil as sharp as a tack and was cracking jokes, asking questions & posing for photos. Isla LOVED being around everyone and had a blast. Can't wait for the next visit.