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WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE INANIMATE OBJECT?

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 07:45:17 -0500

right now, my knitting needles

Mummy Pig, Daddy Pig, Miss Rabbit/Nanny Plum, Peppa Pig and...

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 17:24:49 -0400

Mummy Pig, Daddy Pig, Miss Rabbit/Nanny Plum, Peppa Pig and narrator man/Mr Potato at the BFI this afternoon - and H won a prize too so got a goodybag!! (Taken with Instagram)

We Love Books - Frugal & Fun - Enjoying School Holidays the Thrifty Way

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 14:28:31 -0400

We Love Books - Frugal & Fun - Enjoying School Holidays the Thrifty Way:

I buy a lot of books, this one is pretty marvellous - loads of ideas and hints for things to do that don’t cost much through the summer. We’ll be making Olympic medals tomorrow afternoon. Sometimes I need a prod in the right direction.

The little fridge (Taken with Instagram)

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 07:31:40 -0400

The little fridge (Taken with Instagram)

With J from next door (Taken with Instagram)

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 07:09:49 -0400

With J from next door (Taken with Instagram)

Three shelves of the bookworm’s collection (Taken with...

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 02:35:43 -0400

Three shelves of the bookworm’s collection (Taken with Instagram)

Oh yes! Flexibath is big enough for a tall almost three year old...

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 12:40:53 -0400

Oh yes! Flexibath is big enough for a tall almost three year old and I can’t wait to try it! (Taken with Instagram)

If you have a baby, you’ll eventually want a monitor - if...

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 07:17:00 -0500

If you have a baby, you’ll eventually want a monitor - if only for the freedom of being able to go downstairs and watch tv, or something! We went for the Angelcare baby monitor, I can’t remember why, possibly as it has a nightlight effect on the monitor in the room, which has never bothered H. It took us about four or five months before we dared leave her in a room with us listening in (she had colic, to be fair, so in the early weeks some nights it was 2am before she settled) - and two years in we’ve had no problems. We do occasionally hear other people’s radios for a milisecond, but not enough to have to reconfigure our settings. The monitor on the parents’ side has rechargeable batteries which have a long life - though no facility to talk through it to calm down a screaming child (which fortunately we’ve never had to do). I’d recommend, anyway.

We picked this up at The Baby Show in February 2009 - a good six...

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 07:11:00 -0500

We picked this up at The Baby Show in February 2009 - a good six months before H was born! I liked the fact it was suitable from an early age and chances were that by the time H was three months old she’d need it as we’d be hitting the coughs and colds season. Two years on and it’s still going strong, just a tiny bit left, but it works a treat! We love it. For nights when she’s coughing in her sleep we’ll rub some on her feet and put socks on, and voila, a good nights sleep is had by all.

(n.b. - the packaging has now changed on Kiddybalm - though the logo stays the same!)

H had awful eczema at times, and we tried plenty of creams (and...

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 09:54:00 -0400

H had awful eczema at times, and we tried plenty of creams (and olive oil) all hoping they’d help. In the end Lucas’ Papaw Ointment was recommended from our Aussie family, I found somewhere in the UK that sold it, tried it and it cleared up her skin a treat. We picked up a bigger tub last time we were out there…

Choosing a baby rocker is quite difficult. A lot of our friends...

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:40:10 -0400

Choosing a baby rocker is quite difficult. A lot of our friends went for the Baby Bjorn one, but it was out of our price range, and for such a short amount of time we wanted something which could convert and be used for a longer period of time. We found this in the Fisher-Price Infant to Toddler rocker.

It started out as a simple chair H could be laid in and strapped securely into, which could be put into a lying position with a vibrate underneath it which was quite gentle and did help with daytime naps. It also has an arch with three detachable toys which as she started to grab things entertained her a lot in the day - one of these included a mirror which was extremely popular.

As H grew, we converted the chair, and now it’s just one she sits on to watch tv or read a book and rocks on - at around £50ish it was a very very good buy for us - we’re expecting to get at least another years use out of it.

Pictured here on the small persons feet are Sock Ons - a great...

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:31:07 -0400

Pictured here on the small persons feet are Sock Ons - a great little invention when all your child wants to do is pull her socks off. (she’s progressed to shoes now, nobody’s come up with one for that yet though…) - a really simple idea that works, and doesn’t break the bank in the process.

She’s also sitting on her first highchair - we switched to the Ikea one in the end, as this one, while great, is a nightmare to clean - so we converted this one to the table and chair (and she uses it this way to this day), the Ikea one came in around £20 (with tray), and she’s already sitting at the table like a big girl anyway, so it doesn’t break the bank… Ikea one to follow when I can find a photo…

Besides the obligatory hooded furry jacket with ears that every...

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:23:42 -0400

Besides the obligatory hooded furry jacket with ears that every parent has a strange urge to possess, there’s the magical world of dribbling which kicks in just before teeth decide to… we found the Skibz bibs really good - though pricey. Fortunately I bought some at The Baby Show where they were doing a good deal. I’ve picked up some other brands since who have been just as good - bandanna style bibs are definitely the way to go, anyway!

The Hippychick Hipseat is a good good thing. It might look a bit...

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 07:27:03 -0400

The Hippychick Hipseat is a good good thing. It might look a bit daft (okay, it looks really daft when there’s no child there), but when you’ve back problems it’s a good solution for when you absolutely have to carry your child. The belt around it is really sturdy too and gives excellent lower back support. The whole idea is that when you pick up your child your back/spinal area isn’t straight - and this helps. They’re not cheap, but being someone who now has sciatica, I know when I’ve had minor backaches this has helped a lot - especially before H could walk. Keep an eye on the Hippychick Facebook page, and they sometimes do offers on this - I’m sure I got a good deal from somewhere when I got mine.

This one is a bit different. We were flying to Australia from...

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:29:00 -0400

This one is a bit different. We were flying to Australia from Gatwick, we’d bought a seat for H and were taking a car seat on board for her seat. After a minor panic the morning of the flight when Shaun decided our regular car seat may not be allowed on board, he rushed out and bought a Britax Prince - one of the few which is acceptable on flights as it can be secured with a lap belt.

Then there was the matter of securing it to a suitcase so we could travel with it. We bought a Travelling Toddler Car Seat attachment, but sadly found it is geared more towards US seats, where there’s an extra hook or attachment at the back, so we sent it back. It looks really good, and I wish our seat had been compatible. In the end we just used a regular belt and fastened it to the seat, made sure the case we strapped it to was hand luggage sized, and took a bin bag to put it in (a very good idea as we were then delayed by the snow for three days before we flew out and it kept it dry), and voila. One car seat used in-flight and in all our journeys around Oz. Phew.

(nb, the seat on this pic is our Britax First Class Plus seat, and we didn’t use the elastic cord either)

Hippychick occasionally do Facebook-only deals, which is great...

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 10:09:36 -0400

Hippychick occasionally do Facebook-only deals, which is great (now I’m on Facebook!) - one day they offered slight seconds on these Moover Prams which are gorgeous - reduced by way over 50% - and considering I’ve seen them on sale for around £70, that’s a bargain! H loves hers, always puts dolly in there (and a few others…) and loves pushing it around - in fact, the only downside with this is that H and all her friends have all tried to climb in, been successful and have then fallen flat on their face before any of us parents could tell her not to… we love this pram anyway - and we’ve not actually worked out what made it a slight second, either!

We love our Totseat. It travelled with us to Australia last...

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 09:47:00 -0400

We love our Totseat. It travelled with us to Australia last Christmas and was used most days - H was a bit too small so was bumped up a bit with cushions, and even better, it’s washable so it doesn’t matter how mucky it gets. Even better? Every week Totseat has Totseat Tuesday - the chance to win a free one! As luck would have it I won mine on the week the question theme was The Sound Of Music (my favourite EVER film), so it was obviously destiny. It packs up so small and there’s even a cummerbund which can attach around backless chairs to add extra support. Such a brilliant idea, such a brilliant product. “the washable, squashable high chair” - never a truer word said.

We don’t use reusable nappies as much as we should do...

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 09:30:00 -0400

We don’t use reusable nappies as much as we should do (we’ve a good collection!), but we do use them. We were sent this Baba + Boo nappy to review, and ohh how could we resist - and a really good nappy too - suitable from birth to potty. Of all the nappies we tested, this one had no leaks and washes and dries really well and quickly too. Highly recommended - plus Baba + Boo are branching out now into more things - check them out!

All of a sudden your baby is walking then all of a sudden...

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 09:14:00 -0400

All of a sudden your baby is walking then all of a sudden they’re a toddler and they’re running off everywhere if you give them the space to do it. We found the LittleLife Toddler Daysack to be great! Firstly, as you can see by one of the photos, there’s a hidden hood - and you get cow ears on it (as we went for cow print), but most importantly of all, there’s a lead (and yes, you feel like you’re taking a dog for a walk) which hooks onto a metal ring at the back so you don’t have to have it on all the time (and it’ll neatly pack into the backpack when not in use) - and I’ve found the backpack itself can hold a foldup raincoat as well as a bottle of water - worth it when you’re out and about, plus H quite enjoys wearing her “backpackpack” now….

This Smart Trike Deluxe is suitable from 10 months to 3 years -...

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 08:59:00 -0400

This Smart Trike Deluxe is suitable from 10 months to 3 years - and comes with a sun shade, a cup holder, and even a mobile phone at the front (thank god, the batteries wore out eventually…) plus a bag which connects to the handle (though we never used ours), as well as a little tray at the rear - and converts from a push along trike with sides, to one your toddler can climb onto, eventually to one they can pedal themselves. We’re just starting to work on the pedalling - it’s very straightforward to convert too. It looks like our model has been discontinued, but Smart Trike have a lot of different ones over on their site and at Amazon.