The Piano

Isla Mozart

Umm, how can I play if I can't reach the foot pedals?

Smiling for the paparazzi

This is a handy foot step...

The saga of the piano!

When we moved from Kingston we discovered that the piano had borer so Papa & Nana paid to get it fumigated before transferring it to Glamis, where it was stored in the garage cos Aunty Sachi didn't want it in her new house! Papa was not too impressed with this as he was very attached to the piano!

Isla loves playing (or rather, banging!) the piano so we convinced them to let us take it to Everton when we moved in. However, 2 weeks after moving in we discovered borer holes all along the walls behind the piano :(

After much arguing, raised voices and a few yelling matches with the guy who supposedly fumigated the piano - we were told that the house has had borer for quite a while... which is another story!

Anyway, Isla still loves playing the piano and while I was cleaning yesterday she was trying to get to the piano. She had an obstacle (namely the vacuum cleaner) in front of her but as you can see, she did not let this stop her. Funnily enough, her foot started the vaccum accidentally which gave her a bit of a heartattack and she fell off the vacuum!

I'm a big, big girl in a big, big world...

Lunchtime has to be outside cos it gets so messy!

Isla's "fish" look

Cheesy grin :)

We look at Isla now and think.... 'Who are you??'. She has changed so much, both in looks and personality. Her latest visit with the Well Child nurses have her above average in height (obviously not her mama or daddy's genes!) and average in weight (altho we think she's a lil fatty!).

Isla LOVES eating and will always have food in her mouth! Her favourites at the moment are fruit and veggies... altho she has also shown a liking for McDonalds cheeseburgers & fries! (esp hash browns for breakfast!)

She is an avid reader and loves reading (and re-reading) favourites such as 'Brown Bear' and 'The Wheels on the Bus'. She is starting to pick out detail in books, such as finding the moon in ' A Kiwi Night before Christmas' or thumping her chest when she sees the gorilla in 'Rumble in the Jungle'.

Isla is a real social butterfly which can be quite embarassing when you are out & about with her. The other day at the playground I lost sight of her for a few mins only to find her eating another kids food out of their lunchbox! She just walks up to people and tries to give them hugs...or beg for food...or flashes her cheesy smile at total strangers to try and get attention. Shame!

At this stage she is showing flashes of 'faalii' (must come from mama) and is a bit of a clown (definitely daddy!). Am really enjoying this stage - she is walking all the time now, even trying to run and is noticing more of the world around her.

February 2011

Isla celebrating her birthday with her cousins.

Back: Gio, Leti (with Daddy), Chrissy, Isla (with Uncle Lima)

Middle: Faith, Lourdes & Micah

Front: Matthew & Caleb

Hard to believe a year ago our lives were flipped upside down with the arrival of our precious Isla Michiko. Since then it's been a blur of nappies, toys, adventures, new learning and happy memories. We must admit, we are very lucky in that Isla has had a healthy start to her year... only a few infections, couple of fevers, minor allergies - even teething was not a problem! Touch wood this continues!

For her birthday we had a small family gathering at our new place. We really wanted to thank God for his blessing us with Isla and taking care of her this past year so we held a baby dedication at Mom & Dad's church in the morning followed by a toonai.

Isla received lots of cool presents from everyone... Aunty Sachi has the photos on her camera so will get them on here asap!