Parenting

What’s in my changing bag

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From time to time I read some great posts from Mums who are quite honestly, far, far more organised than I am, who share their lovely changing bags. They are pristine and organised and kept well stocked. I am a little in awe of these Mums as I doubt they ever manage to go out without nappies (has happened more than once as I haven’t realised I have run out and can’t remember when I last checked) or are ever greeted by this sight when they open their changing bag.

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So, no, sadly I am not one of those Mums, and this isn’t going to be one of those posts! I am more likely to randomly chuck in a few nappies and every now and again. Occasionally I decide to brave taking out all the random stuff that is in there and have a good sort out in the hope I will be more organised next time (let’s face it, never gona happen). This is what I did this week, and this is what I found in my changing bag.

Half a rice cake, covered in sand and bizarrely squished into a suncream lid – yummy.

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Some pine cones which were a ‘present’ from Monkey.

A piece of elastic we randomly found Monkey playing with and decided to remove from his possession.

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Some of LM’s favourite things to play with, including a bit of dried grass (yup, honestly, playing with a blade of grass makes her deliriously happy), a frog castanet, the hose from a duplo fire engine (she LOVES it) and a rattly whistle thing (that actually contains a sweet but shhh our kids haven’t worked that out yet).

Thousands of bits of broken biscuit.

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Random items of ‘spare’ clothing completely coated in the above broken biscuits and crumbs.

Ooh, result, a slightly squished but still sealed mini mars bar. Yum!

A few random nappies that have been squished and mangled so badly that at first glance I am not 100% sure if they are used or not.

It was a good job jobbed, and right now my changing bag is much more organised… but I know in my heart that it won’t last very long!!

What’s in your changing bag? I would love to know if you are reading this in horror or completely relate to my lack or organisation!

MaternityMondaysAnd then the fun began...
Best of Worstbrummymummyof2

Siblings August 2015

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It’s that time of the month again where I share some cutie pictures of m lovely little brother and sister having fun togther. I originally thought I would use a couple of pics from our recent holiday in Dorset but then I caught a moment of sibling loveliness I have to share. They were moving around so much that my even my lovely shiny new phone (after loving it when I reviewed it recently, I have got myself a Samsung Galaxy S6) couldn’t keep them in focus as I snapped away, but you get the idea.

They were sat on the sofa together a few days ago and I was right there to make sure LM didn’t fall off as she is a fidget pants. She adores her brother and just wants to clamber all over him, and play with whatever he has, but she is not gentle and ends up pulling his hair and squishing and scratching him. Monkey takes it pretty well really but does got annoyed with it too, so I moved her away.

 

Then immediately he starts shouting “can we do it again? can we do it again?” A little confused I asked what he wanted to do again and he replied with “climbing and pulling my hair.”

A little baffled I confirmed that he wanted his sister to climb over him again and pull his hair again. “yup.” So I left them to it and just loved watching the giggles and chuckles from both of them. Just a real moment of sibling love, one minute getting annoyed with each the next loving having a tonne of fun together.20150812_075104 20150812_074811 20150812_075053 20150812_074818 20150812_074947 20150812_075006 20150812_075118

Love these two loonies 🙂

dear beautiful
Mummascribbles

Making good progress

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11

My work of the week this week is “progress” as we are making some great progress, on a number of fronts.

I wrote last week that we are starting our new big project, and honestly the builders have worked so hard and only 1 week later, the progress is incredible! They’ve obviously got a way to go yet but the work is well underway!

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The old garage is feeling much more like a room, now the stud work is up, it is insulated and has the plasterboard up. The new, larger window has been created and the old garage doors (front and back) are well and truly gone. The foundations have been dug for the new wall on the garage and what will be our utility room, and today these were filled with concrete.

It’s very exciting though my word could also have been chaos as of course it has been noisy and hectic and a bit chaotic having the builders in – and they will be around for a while yet!

We’ve also made some progress getting rid of some of the old stuff from the garage and have sold a few things on ebay, which is brilliant. No point stuff we don’t use going back into the new garage! We’ve given away lots of baby clothes and other bits including a moses basket and nursing chair to friends. We know we aren’t having any more babies but it is lovely to see our bits go to a good home,

We are also making progress in a totally different area, potty training Monkey! I haven’t mentioned it but we also started potty training last week and Monkey has been doing amazingly. We’ve had less than 10 accidents all week and he is getting better and better at telling me he needs to do a wee (rather than just going when I take him). He goes a couple of hours between wees and has even had a few dry nights which we are hugely impressed with! I will write more about how it’s gone in a later post but I am so glad we waited until he was ready.

We tried earlier this year and he wasn’t ready, but now he is and he has just got it straight away. I know we all feel the pressure to do it early and having a 3 year old in nappies certainly what I thought would happen but waiting until he was really ready and following his lead has been absolutely the right thing for us. It has actually been really easy, which is a huge relief, and it is lovely seeing him in pants rather than nappies!! 🙂

In many ways it has been a tough, and certainly busy, week with the builders, LM and I have a cold and Monkey is a bit ratty and not 100% either. But it is good to feel like we have made some great progress and are really getting somewhere!

How has your week been?

The Reading Residence

Crawly Baby (9 months old)

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Yup, it’s official, we have a crawler! Our little lady, at just over 9mths old is now well and truly on the move.

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When she wants to she can really go at a pace but actually for the most part she doesn’t want to crawl and much prefers to stand. So she will only crawl until she can find something (usually Mummy who she knows is a soft touch) to pull herself up on. She is so determined to stand and walk that even if there is nothing (or no Mummy) to grab onto then she will try and stand. As a result, much of the time she ends up like this, with bum in the air.

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She has even done a couple of steps like this but I think she hopes to push herself to standing and just can’t quite get herself there yet!

It’s a whole new world for us as Monkey never crawled properly and just did a sort of commando style drag across the floor. The speed that LM can go and the distance she can cover is a whole new thing so we are having to be extra careful about what is on the floor – especially some of Monkey’s smaller toys. It terrifies me even thinking about it to be honest!

It’s so lovely seeing her so proud of herself for accomplishing it, even though there is still just as much frustrtaion as she would rather stand and walk. I have a feeling that won’t be too far in the future though!

Love watching her grow into a little person 🙂

theordinarymomentsbadgeMaternityMondaysEthans Escapades

Little Miss at 9 Months

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Wow so our little lady turns 9 months old this week! Which means she has been in the world for as long as she was growing in my tummy! Her development seems to be coming on leaps and bounds all the time now and for the most part she is a joy to be around. She just beams with happiness when she smiles and melts our heart on a daily basis.

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She is keeping us on our toes though. For a while we have been convinced she was going to be a crawler.. And she can do it… Or could if she wanted to. But she doesn’t want to. Nope, like her big brother she would prefer to walk, thank you very much!

crawling vs walking

So though she can crawl she more often is trying to stand and falls flat bless her… Unless there is something or someone to grab onto. We still had her on the highest cot level until this week but had to lower her after I came in to see her after her nap and found her on her knees, holding the side and about to stand. If she had stood up she basically would have gone head first out of the cot! Eek!

As she wants to walk around that also means we are walking around with her a lot. Not great for our backs unfortunately but I know it will only be in the short term as we did the same with Monkey and he walked pretty early.

Her sleep regression troubles have eased off a little thankfully. My Mum’s tip of rubbing her back helps if she is struggling to settle herself but for the most part she does get herself off to sleep quite quickly again. Phew! Less screaming does make the house feel a lot calmer.

She seems to have settled into a little bit of a routine for the time being… Where she sleeps from 10-1130/12 in the morning,3-4 in the afternoon and then 730pm-6am overnight. It is nice knowing a little bit what to expect but I doubt this routine will last long and, well, I know she can change at any given moment! She does so like keeping me on my toes!!

She is a chatty little thing and been saying dada or jaja indiscriminately for a while and it has been lovely to hear mama or maba come out recently too. I know she doesn’t know what it means but it is still lovely. She is getting more giggly as well and loves being tickled, which is obviously great fun.

She loves people, adores her daddy and still worships her big brother, smiling the second she sees him. She also likes grabbing him, which he takes in good spirits for the most part bless him.

This week we have had a some waving at people which has been lovely and is just another example of how we are entering what I see as the fun stage. Yes it is still hard work, but a little less so and with all of the learning and developments comes a lot of fun for all of us.

lm 9 mths collage

MaternityMondaysEthans Escapades
The Twinkle Diaries

Siblings July 2015

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Another month has gone by so time for another siblings update 🙂 LM is getting bigger and more interactive by the day so her and Monkey are having more and more fun together. He loves ‘playing together’ and is generally very good even if she is having a bad morning which disturbs whatever activity he and I had planned.

It’s not all sweetness and light though as there is definitely some jealousy appearing in Monkey too. Nothing major or horrible but he is definitely a bit jealous of the attention his baby sister gets from us and relatives sometimes. Not surprising really as he has had everyone’s undivided attention for the last 3 years but now she is winning people over with her big eyes and sunny smiles!

Her biggest smiles are still reserved for her big brother though so here’s a few shots taken over the last month of our gorgeous pair having fun together.

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I just feel so lucky to be their Mummy. It feels so soppy to say that but I look at them playing together, or just alongside each other and my heart melts. Then one of them starts whining or throws a wobbly and normal service resumes once more 😉

dear beautifulNot My Year Off