A fun activity which cost £1!

I'm always trying to think of new ways to entertain and have fun with Isaac.

Recently Hubby has been decorating in the house and Isaac has taken a shine to the paint brushes. 

This led me to an idea! Why not paint the wall? So I bought Isaac a pack of DIY paintbrushes from poundland and filled up a pot of water. He "painted" the wall and floor and used different brushes. 

We got 25 mins play out of this before he became bored and went on the slide instead. 

£1 well spent and we can use the brushes again either for this activity or for painting :) 

"Isn't he too heavy for that?"

I love baby wearing! When Isaac was newborn I tried a baby Bjorn carrier and quite simply it was useless! He was a tiny 7lb 2 and yet it hurt my shoulders terribly. It was recommended to me to buy a stretchy wrap, I really liked it but got put off quickly with the faff of wrapping Isaac whilst he was so wriggly! I really wish I'd tried a close caboo carrier or something similar, as they can be put on and then tightened whilst baby is inside rather than juggling baby and wrap! 

Anyway, when Isaac was about 5 months old I bought a baby hawk Mai tai and it was fab!! I mastered front & back carries very easily and my pushchair was fast becoming redundant. I did also purchase a woven wrap designed for older babies but found it was difficult to manipulate and very long. I should have taken more advice and visited a sling library or bought a shorter or more "worn in" wrap. Something I would probably do if I was to have another baby. 

After a while as Isaac approached 1 & became a lot heavier (around the 25lb mark) I found that the straps on the shoulder of the baby hawk started to become uncomfortable. I again did my research and purchased a Rose & Rebellion baby carrier. It was truly fantastic! It is a full buckle carrier meaning there was no faff with straps or tying I simply clipped it on and off we went. Isaac loved front carries and I occasionally put him on my back when going further afield. Isaac is now 18 months old and I have replaced my baby carrier with an "in between" carrier. R&R made it especially for me and its a super fit for Isaac & myself. He is now 28lb (ish) I honestly can't feel his weight in the carrier and despite regular negativity from others regarding how heavy he is or how uncomfortable it must be, I much prefer carrying him to using a pushchair. My hands are free, we can go up and down steps, in and out of narrow door ways and he can walk whenever he likes too. 

I would say my Rosé & Rebellion carrier is possibly the best baby purchase I have made! 

http://www.roseandrebellion.com/

This is Isaac at 27lb in the baby carrier. 

He's getting too big here hence the new

purchase! 

Can we get his hair cut now?

Isaac recently won a competition to model the fabulous Baba+Boo cloth nappies. They loved his long floppy hair!

We have quite a few of these nappies in our (very large) stash and they are certainly our most stylish! Best thing about them is they produce many gender neutral/ boy prints which many other companies don't do. My all time favourite has to be their giraffe print. Having said that, we're all in for a treat with their new collection, but I've been swan the secrecy on that one!

Isaac was an absolute star yesterday. We had to travel to Manchester which is a long way when you are only 17months. He slept a bit in the car but was otherwise occupied with books and dinosaurs.

When we arrived at the shoot, Isaac was having a little cat nap but it didn't stop him from "performing" for the cameras in true Isaac style within a few minutes of arriving. He was very proud of himself, constantly clapping at his own achievements!

He modelled 4 nappies and looked super cute in all of them (obviously I would say that!)

Very much looking forward to the new launch of nappies and seeing the photos of Isaac. Well done little man, another proud mummy moment.

Life is just one big science experiment

Isaac is walking around independently now. It's an awesome sight to see. I can't believe how grown up he looks!

With this new found independence has come an element of mischievousness! I know that he doesn't mean to be naughty he's just having a play with EVERYTHING to see how it works.

Yesterday he was exploring the kitchen. He loves opening and closing cupboards. He found some opened baby rice (didn't even know we had any?) and pulled it out with force. Of course the rice spilt all over the kitchen floor. I was very patient and thought for a minute. Instead if telling him off let's play?!

I let Isaac put his hands the the rice and we did mark making. I wrote his name and spelt it out phonetically. It was such a fun activity all led by him being a bit of an imp!

Loving my days now :)

Isaac's first Christmas

We started Christmas on Sunday with a visit from family. We decided to spread Isaac's presents out so he could have chance to play with them. He's been such a lucky boy.

Christmas Eve night I had to be father Christmas for the very first time. We put the presents in a stocking and put them in his room before we went to bed.

The morning was fun too. Opening presents in bed was just too exciting! Isaac finally got the hang of ripping paper off and spending time studying each present. We have received a lot of books which is good because Isaac loves books! Every time he has opened one he's "read" it cover to cover, studying each page. Today he also had quite a few noisy toys. I loved to watch his face light up as his singing puppy dances in front of him.

Tomorrow is another day and yes there will be more presents!

BLW

Baby Led weaning

Weaning is one of those controversial topics which everyone has an opinion on. The health professionals at the moment are suggesting waiting for weaning until baby is 6 months old. However, there is also a list of criteria that can be used to see if LO is ready.

Isaac could do all these things at 19 weeks and was starting to show a lot of interest in food. At 20 weeks he grabbed some mango off my plate and ate the whole thing! At that point I decided to pursue baby led weaning as you can't get more baby led than that! Most advice was still suggesting waiting until 6 months for a child to eat.

At that point I introduced "sticks" of banana and cooked carrot once a day. He enjoyed eating and usually polished off the whole thing!

Just before 6 months old, I went to the HV who suggested that I should start 3 meals a day because he had done so well with his weight. Most babies double in weight by 6 months, he had nearly trebled!

I did this quickly and Isaac began to have what we were having. It was so easy, and now at 13 months he eats so well. I never have to worry about what to make him or to take anything out with us.

I'm a big advocate of BLW I tell everyone how easy it is and will certainly do it again should we be blessed with any more children.

A new skill everyday!

I'm totally blown away with Isaac this week. Saturday he did 10-15 steps unaided 3 times, Monday he learned to climb the stairs and today he used a spoon to eat sweet potato!

The walking is something we have tried to encourage as he's very steady holding hand but just doesn't like to let go! However, the other two skills have come out of nowhere! He's amazing, know in biased but he just is :)