Category: Baby

4 min read

Baby Lifestyle products

Frankie’s Sustainable First Birthday Presents

Zoe

September 10, 2020 12:24 pm September 10, 2020

4 min read

1915 views

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4 min read

Birthday’s are my chance to spoil my kids with their favourite toys! I rarely buy them toys through out the year as I tend to take them out to places…

Birthday’s are my chance to spoil my kids with their favourite toys! I rarely buy them toys through out the year as I tend to take them out to places instead. So when Birthdays and Christmas comes along, I get stuck into gift hunting.

What is different this year?

In the past, when it has come to searching for presents, I have never given a second thought into what harm the gifts I am buying are doing to the planet.

Now my eyes are open to the damage plastic is doing to our planet, I can’t buy it.

It’s crazy because I remember seeing an episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, when Kourtney was talking about how she only buys wooden toys and all I could think was “that’s snobby!”. At that time, wooden toys were expensive compared to the plastic ones I would tend to buy. I would have never seen myself a year on making a conscious decision like her, not to buy plastic.

Yes, the prices of wooden toys do tend to be higher. But the bigger cost is the damage we are doing not buying them.

Anyway, enough of my preaching, here are his toys:

Kids Concept Wooden Xylophone

Anything that gives Frankie the option to make loud noise, he is instantly in love with! My sister got Mole a keyboard for her Birthday and Frankie always tries to take over and play his tunes.

This Xylophone is about the length on my laptop. For me, that is perfect as it is not too big to tidy away after it has been used but, I am aware that some reviews said they would have rather it been a lot bigger.

Little Dutch Toaster

This brand is incredible. In terms of quality and price, I’d say they are very fair.

Frankie plays with Mole’s kitchen endlessly. This toaster set will be the perfect addition to their kitchen playroom. Imaginative play is something I love to encourage with my children.

Stacking Ring

A mistake I made with Mole’s First Birthday presents was I thought too much into toys that she could grow into. I bought her too many that were a little old for her and she couldn’t understand how to play with them straight away.

A stacking ring is a perfect Birthday present for a 1st Birthday. I know Frankie will love the puzzle of the stacking ring or simply banging the rings together to make a loud noise.

Dinkum Doll

Frankie does pick up Mole’s dolls. It’s only fair he has his own too. The Dinkum dolls can be boys or girls. They are soft and cuddly too. You can stand them up or sit them down. I like how you can choose a doll that your little one can relate to.

Dinkum Doll Feeding Set

I had to get Frankie accessories for his doll. The feeding set is just adorable! Again, I love the natural colour so it is suitable for boys or girls, meaning Frankie and Mole can play together.

Dinkum Doll Bottle

Another accessory for Frankie’s doll is this natural wood dolls bottle. This paired with the feeding set makes a lovely combination.

Dinkum Doll Changing Basket

We don’t have a pram for the doll, I thought i’d see if he takes to the doll before I buy a pram. The changing basket can be for changing or a bed.

I purchased the sage mattress for a more masculine look.

VertiPlay Tree Top Adventure

The best part about this toy is it sticks to the wall! Perfect toy to practice fine motor skills and the cars can be used alone too.

I’ve seen a few of these types of toys and I loved the different features of this one like the swinging squirrel.

Wooden Car Transporter

To further Frankie’s love for cars, this car transporter will start off his car collection. The car transporter is great to help him practice his pushing technique too.

Does your little one love cars like Frankie?

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3 min read

Baby Toddler

How To Encourage Your One Year Old To Talk

Zoe

May 30, 2019 10:45 am May 30, 2019

3 min read

1670 views

4 Comments

3 min read

Your babies first word is a huge milestone. As soon as you hear the sound of their first word you will gasp, cheer and praise your little one. You will…

Your babies first word is a huge milestone. As soon as you hear the sound of their first word you will gasp, cheer and praise your little one. You will then be wondering how you can encourage your one year old to talk.

One of the biggest questions is: will your baby say ?mama? or ?dada? first?

In a few more months, around 15 months old, your baby will use simple consonant sounds such as ?up? and ?more?. When your baby reaches 18 months old, there will be no stopping them as they will begin to pick up several new words a day.

Gestures

One year olds understand a lot more words than you probably think. To encourage them, use gestures such as pointing or waving can really help them. When your one year old points at an object respond with ?do you want your cup? Or ?Yes, that is a light.? Especially if they are waving, it is easy to incorporate, ?Hello?, or ?Bye Bye?.

Real words

It is very easy to use words that your one year old can say such as ?ba ba?. But, you need to focus on using real words to help their speech. As a parent you need to stay one step ahead of your toddler and not talk down at them. The end result will be helping your toddler expand his/her vocabulary.

Take your time

Admittedly I have been here myself, when I have been trying to read Mole a bedtime story, and I rush through the book as quick as possible before she becomes over tired. Change your reading time and take your time with reading to them. Let your one-year-old point as the different pictures in the book and respond to them with what they are pointing at. Pronounce a key word to them several times to let them practice pronouncing it.

Piggybacking

When your child can say one word and understand that word well, you can introduce the piggybacking technique. This is where you will expand their one word into two words like this: instead of ?dolly? you can say ?baby dolly? or instead of ?brush? you can say ?hair brush?. Doing this will again help them to expand their vocabulary, without overwhelming them with too many new words.

Pitch

You may already do this without realising. Changing your tone of voice when speaking to your toddler really helps to keep them interested. Mole was very curious of our pet turtle. So for a good 10 minutes whilst we were playing with him, the only word I used was ?turtle? but in many different voices. In the end, Mole was able to say ?turtle? and understand that was our pet.

If your little one shows interest in something, spend time with them talking about that object. You can show them what it does and repeat what it is called. That way, if they already have an interest in the object, you have already grasped their attention to start learning.

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6 min read

Baby

Routine

Zoe

March 19, 2019 2:01 pm March 19, 2019

6 min read

1302 views

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6 min read

Before I had Mole… The word routine had a very different meaning to me. I would wake up for work, eat, head to the gym and sleep. Anything else added…

Before I had Mole…

The word routine had a very different meaning to me.

I would wake up for work, eat, head to the gym and sleep. Anything else added into my day would be another self orientated activity like nails or my tan.

And then I had Mole.

it was impossible to get her into a routine

As Mole was a reflux baby, it was impossible to get her into a routine the first few months of her life as she was constantly being sick and having to be bathed 10 times a day. She couldn’t lie flat on her back without screaming in pain, so at night we rarely got any sleep. Thats no exaggeration. I would see every hour of the clock go by whilst comforting her. If you would like more advice on how we got through her reflux read this blog post here.

Introducing a routine

I’d say I started to introduce a strict routine when Mole was around 4 months old, when her reflux stopped.

We stayed in for a few weeks to really nail everything in the head and make sure we were following a consistent pattern. Not only for her, but myself too. As I wasn’t use to living by a strict time frame, I would slack with the routine and wonder why it wouldn’t work. So yes, staying in for a few weeks till everything became set in stone in both our little brains did wonders.

Our Routine

7:30am Wake up

Mole wakes me up with her chirping and sound practicing. I always enter her room shouting “Good Morning!” and she gets the biggest smile on her face. We have cuddles and move on to getting ready.

I always enter her room shouting “Good Morning!”

7:47am Getting dressed

I change Moles nappy straight away as its always stinky first thing in the morning. Most of the time I will get her changed into her outfit for the day now. But, if we are going somewhere really nice, or I need to capture photos for a brand, I will get her dressed after breakfast.

8:00am My turn

I’ll take Mole into the bathroom with me whilst I have a wash and clean my teeth etc and then she comes with my whilst I get dressed. If I want to do nice makeup for the day then I leave this part out and complete it whilst she has her nap.

8:15am Breakfast?

Mole has her breakfast, usually pancakes, croissant or fruit. I also have mine at the same time. I then make her a bottle and for some reason even though she eats loads for her breakfast she will still smash a bottle in.

9:00am Free time

This hour is spent playing with Mole and she gets all of her toys out. The main purpose of this hour is to really tire her out. Sometimes we even do crawling races around the house together. I’d say this hour is the best time of the day with her.

We do crawling races around the house

10:00am Nap

Bang on the dot every day I take her up for a nap in her cot. Her bedroom is pitch black and I believe this helps her get to sleep. I place her down with her favourite teddy and walk straight out of the room. I have learnt that if I fuss over her, she gets excited and will not nap.

At the start of implementing this routine, Mole would cry after I put her down. As horrible as this sounds, I would ignore it (obviously if it went on for a long period of time e.g. 10 minutes i’d go and reassure her) but, mainly I wouldn’t make a fuss of her. This was really hard to do and make me feel very guilty.

1:00pm Wakey wakey?

Mole wakes up from her nap around this time. The length of her nap can vary, sometimes its short and sometimes I have had to go and wake her up at 2:30pm.

Nappy and then we both get dinner straight away. She also has a sippy cup of water with her meal, nappy after meal.

3:00pm bottle

Mole has another bottle of milk around this time or a snack. sometimes both if she is hungry and a nappy change if needed.

4:30pm Prepare Tea

I prepare tea usually at this time however, recently Jay has been home at this time and offers to make the tea. Win!

5:00pm

Mole has her tea with another sippy cup of water.

6:00pm Bath time

I bathe Mole every single night as she gets so dirty through out the day. I try not to wash her hair every single day but she always ends up with so much food in it I shampoo her hair too.

6:30pm Bed time

Mole goes to bed in a sleeping bag with her teddy. We give her a warm bottle of milk and turn her humidifier on. I give her a cuddle and kiss and leave the room straight away. She falls asleep within 10 minutes and we don’t have to see to her until the next morning.

If she does wakeup, we leave a fresh bottle in her cot and leave the room again.

What works for us

As you can see there is no fussing around her sleep times. That is something that works for us but not everyone. Even nursery have said that when they sit in the room waiting for her to fall asleep she just doesn’t sleep. I think it is because she is so nosey haha.

You may have also noticed that she only has one nap. Thats something that works for us too and has helped with her sleeping through the night for longer.

If we spend the day out we always try to give her a nap at home first at the same time or we plan the journey so her nap time is whilst we are in the car so she can sleep then.

I hope you found this useful, I’d love to know your routines.

Thank you

Zoe

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3 min read

Baby

Moles 11 month update

Zoe

March 3, 2019 6:31 pm March 3, 2019

3 min read

1405 views

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3 min read

One whole year with my baby Mole is approaching fast! I thought it will be nice for you for me to do a little recap of her personality so far….

One whole year with my baby Mole is approaching fast! I thought it will be nice for you for me to do a little recap of her personality so far.

I feel like I say this every single time but, as time goes on I just have so much fun. Each day gets better and better!

Nursery

Mole attends nursery 2 consecutive days a week. Me and Jay both decided it will really benefit her social skills to be around other babies for a full day.

At nursery she has also learnt to eat finger food to the point now where she refuses pur?ed food. This has been a huge advantage as it’s been cheaper and easier to get her a healthy meal. It’s even fun ordering off the menu for her when we dine out.

Nursery send me daily updates with pictures of what she gets up too and how each activity she does helps her development.

Weaning

Moles favourite food now is pancakes, cheese crisps and anything else cheese related haha.

I still work on her eating her vegetables but when they are mixed into a pasta dish or cottage pie she’s great with them.

I get most of my food inspiration for her off BLW Instagram accounts, or I give her a little bit of my meal. Ella’s kitchen do a handy range of frozen meals which are perfect for a quick meal.

Mole drinks water with her meals out of a regular Tommy Tippe cup. Nursery stick to the same brand and type of cup which has made her consistent with her water intake.

Walking

Currently Mole can not take steps unassisted but I’m sure she will soon.

She loves to walk around the room as long as she’s holding onto something.

Talking

Mole can say a couple of words like “mama” and “dada”. I’m really trying to help her say “hello” as she loves to wave.

Personality

Mole has the best sense of humour. She loves to play peek a boo with the curtains and blankets. Her favourite places to visit are soft play centres, especially when there is a huge ball pool.

She doesn’t like going to restaurants and gets very irritated when she’s in the high chair. It can be a little embarrassing sometimes as she will throw a huge tantrum and throw her food everywhere. We are finding a balance of going to places where we can enjoy a meal out and she has somewhere to play afterwards. If not then we just put some fun videos on our phones for her to watch.

Sleeping

Mole goes to sleep for 6:30pm every single night. She sleeps all the way through but, I always leave a bottle in her cot in case she gets hunger and wants a feed. If that’s the case, she feeds herself and launches the empty bottle out of the cot and goes back to sleep.

She wakes up from 7:30am.

Favourite toys

Her current favourite toys are the ball pit, books and a shape sorter. For her birthday I have purchased completely different toys I would usually go for to see how she gets on.

Thanks for reading!

Zoe

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4 min read

Baby

When will my baby sleep through the night?

Zoe

January 3, 2019 1:54 pm January 3, 2019

4 min read

1598 views

1 Comment

4 min read

When will my baby sleep through the night? That is a question us parents have all had in common at some point in our baby’s life. Mole suffered terribly with…

When will my baby sleep through the night? That is a question us parents have all had in common at some point in our baby’s life.

Mole suffered terribly with silent reflux and colic as a newborn. There were nights where I would see every hour go by on the clock, the sun would rise and the birds would sing.? We were far from sleeping through the night. I remember feeling so envious of parents boasting how their newborn was a fantastic sleeper and I wanted to know their secret.

Mole is 9 months now and sleeping through like a dream! I am feeling more confident as a mum and I know that there are things in Mole’s routine that I could have established earlier which would have helped her to sleep through.

Routine

Routines play a huge part in making your life easier as a parent. I should have known really, as a secondary school teacher at a challenging school, everything is routinised. The students do the exact same routine at the start of every single lesson. If any of this is out of place on my behalf. They go haywire. Kids love structure and routine.

I started Mole with a very simple bed time routine around 3/4 months. By simple I mean very simple. Bath, bottle and bed.? Did it work? Not quite.

Mole’s bed time routine has become a little more detailed now and it is working for us!

Food

Weaning Mole has helped her to sleep through, but, when she first started weaning I would say it did not make the slightest difference.

I focus through out the day on what kind of foods she is eating, making sure she is full and satisfied. e.g. porridge over yoghurt. She can sometimes be so busy crawling around and exploring she will forget she is hungry until she is in bed. I give her water during the day and try to focus most of her bottles of milk towards the afternoon/evening again leaving her full for night time.

Mole has her last bottle before we go up to bed at around 11:30pm. Sometimes, if she is in a very hungry mood, I will leave her a bottle in her cot and she helps herself to it at around 6:00am.

Energy

Mole sleeps better if I am active with her during the day. She has so much energy that she needs to burn off. I take her to soft play in the afternoon, swimming lessons or we have crawling races around the house.

It is easier when they can crawl to tire them out. My next baby I will take them out in their pram to get a good dose of fresh air before bed or practice tummy time or play shaking a rattle. The smallest activities can make a difference.?

Bedtime Story

We do the bedtime story before she has a bath, this may change as she gets older. She loves books, especially the touchy feely ones.

Bath

Mole has a bath for bed at the same time every single night 6:00pm. It use to be later. I bought the time forward and we didn’t hit that over tired phase and she was better behaved. Lot’s of splashing and fun in the bath (tired her out even more).

After the bath, I like to give her a gentle massage if she is in the mood and dry her off. I have taken more notice in her pyjamas too. I look for quality now and focus on how soft and comfortable the material is. Sometimes In buy a size bigger so they aren’t too tight on her feet.

Sleeping Bag

Mole always has a better night sleep when she is in a sleeping bag. The best I have been able to find at an affordable price is this one I was gifted from Vertbaudet at ?21.00:?Microfibre Sleeping Bag

The best I have been able to find at an affordable price is this one from Vertbaudet

The quality is beautiful. It has lasted being washed over and over again too where as others from Supermarkets I have purchased have been ruined.?

The size of the sleeping bag is perfect for her legs to have enough room.

There is the option to have sleeves on the sleeping bag or detach them depending on the temperature.

The sleeping bag is also versatile for prams as there is a double zip option to separate the legs!

Since using a sleeping bag she no longer has an issue with the blanket coming off and getting cold through out the night and I sleep better as the sleeping bag is safer.

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COMMENT YOUR BEDTIME TIPS!

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5 min read

Baby

How do I get my baby into a nap routine?

Zoe

November 20, 2018 11:28 am November 20, 2018

5 min read

1428 views

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5 min read

Most new mums burning question: “How do I get my baby into a nap routine?” As soon as Mole hit three months I began working on her nap routine. I…

Most new mums burning question:

“How do I get my baby into a nap routine?”

As soon as Mole hit three months I began working on her nap routine. I felt like it was important for the both of us. I could get my me time back and Mole would be less grouchy in the evenings.

Most three-to six-month-olds will sleep for around 15 hours a day, including regular naps throughout.

According to parenting experts your baby ideally needs three sleeps totalling no more than five hours.

Working on a nap routine

To get Mole to have three naps a day was well out of our reach. It was hard enough getting her to go down for one let alone three.

I focussed on her first nap and what ever else happened was an added bonus.

The key to her napping was to notice the signs of when she is tired. At around 9:45am I place her on her play mat if she is not already there and study her.

Signs my baby is tired

Rubbing their eyes
Cycling their legs
Clasp their hands
Rubbing their face
Begin to be vocal
Moan and groan
Shout
Cry
Loss of interest in toys

Morning nap

When Mole displays these signs I take her straight up to her cot. It’s a good idea to have a warm bottle prepared too (I usually make this at 9:40am).

The key is to take her up as she is displaying the start of these signs e.g. moaning not shouting. As you get use to what you need to look out for the whole process is easier. I can tell within three seconds of looking at her if she needs a nap now.

If you wait till they are shouting then you run the risk of them being over tired and getting them to nap in a cot becomes a nightmare.

Ensuring their room is dark is a signal to your baby that sleep is needed. I will give Mole her bottle and blanket. The majority of the time she falls straight to sleep after her bottle.

Afternoon nap

Mole’s afternoon nap is a different story. It is much harder to get her down for this nap compared to the morning nap.

She does not display the window of tiredness signs as she does in the morning so what I did was work out a time that is best for both of us.

2:00pm. I know that she has had her dinner, nappy change and playtime after dinner. I also know that she is probably ready for her next bottle. I take her to her room and place her in the cot and feed her the bottle. This time she rarely falls asleep on the bottle so I have to give her a kiss and leave the room.

50% of the time she will talk herself to sleep and I love listening through the door at her cute conversation.

Feeling like you are failing

The other 50% of the time she will cry and scream. I have learnt that if she has had all of her bottle I can leave her for 5-10 minutes and then I go back and check on her. Usually I have to go and distract myself and put the washing in or let the dog outside as hearing her cry upsets me and I give into myself and bring her down stairs. Luckily she ends up falling asleep. I have the lollipop baby camera so I can check up on her on my phone without going in and disturbing her.

If Mole is still awake and not settled then I will check her nappy, offer her more bottle and try again.

I never put pressure of myself to make the routine perfect. If the second nap fails I simply take her back down for more playtime and make sure she is in bed for the night at an earlier time.

What are good nap times?

Good nap times are around the “window of tiredness”. This tends to be 90 minutes after first waking in the morning, 30 minutes to 60 after the lunchtime feed and at 4-5pm in the afternoon.

You will work out what times work for you both.

Nap time tips

Look out for your baby rubbing their eyes
Have a warm bottle prepared
Make sure the room is dark
Lavender sleep spray can help them associate it is time to sleep
Consistency! I stayed in for 2 weeks putting her in her cot at the same time every day.
Do not give in straight away. Try to distract yourself whilst they cry and learn to self settle for the first 5 minutes.
Fresh nappy
You don’t have to change them back into their pjs.
Make the house as quiet as possible whilst they are trying to sleep.
Invest in a baby monitor

I hope you enjoyed reading! Comment below your nap time tips ?.

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3 min read

Baby baby product reviews

Baby Bath Time Essentials

Zoe

November 7, 2018 3:53 pm November 7, 2018

3 min read

2260 views

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3 min read

When I use to think of a bath, the word relaxing came to mind. But as a first time mum, when I first bathed Mole she was a slippery fish…

When I use to think of a bath, the word relaxing came to mind. But as a first time mum, when I first bathed Mole she was a slippery fish and it was more nerve-wracking than relaxing.

Now we are a few months down the line with plenty of bath times under our belt, I feel I have found the right items to have by my side at bath time.

Bath time is a fun bonding routine and has definitely helped with establishing a strong bed time routine.

Baby Bath Time Checklist

Here are my bath time baby essentials to keep your baby safe and comfy whilst you get your them squeaky clean.

Baby bath tub or seat
Soft sponge
Soft hooded towel
Baby shampoo
Baby wash
Baby bubblebath
Thermometer
Bath toys
Rinsing Cup

My Bath Time Favourite Products For Mole

Angelcare soft touch bath support

I love this one by Angelcare. Mole has used this every bath time since she was a newborn baby. I feel so safe bathing her in this and she has the freedom to splash her legs and have fun.

Baby Bath Soft Sponge

This sponge is super soft on her delicate skin. I also use the sponge to rinse off her shampoo too as I find using a rinsing cup always gets too much water down her face and shampoo into her eyes.

Baby Bath Hooded Towel

I have tried lot’s of cheap hooded towels from B&M and Aldi but they do not stay soft after a wash. My favourite is this one from Marks and Spencer. Its sooooooo soft.

Baby Wash, Shampoo and Bubblebath

If you have read one of my previous blog posts on Mole’s sensitive skin you will already know one of my favourite bath time products.

I love Childs Farm and for bubbles, wash and shampoo. They are a brilliant all rounder and have done wonders to her sensitive skin. They have a range of different scents but the strawberry mint has to be our fave.

Recently I was very hesitant to try Mole with another brand after knowing Childs Farm works so well. I picked up some products from Love Boo. OH MY WORD, they are gorgeous. Mole has used the bubble bath, body wash and massage oil and they smell incredible. Just like a baby scent. Her skin has not flared up once which is the biggest bonus. So if you fancy a bath time was for your baby that has a stronger scent that I definitely recommend Love Boo.

Baby Bath Thermometer?

This has been a life saver. Our hot tap always runs near to boiling. I feel at ease knowing I have the correct temperature for Mole’s bath by using the thermometer rather than doing an elbow or wrist check. The thermometer is digital and states what the temperate range needs to be if you ever forget.

Baby Bath Toys

Mole loves to play with rubber ducks. The rubber ducks work as great teething toys too. She even has to hold onto one whilst I get her ready into her pyjamas. Simple and cheap.

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2 min read

Baby

10 things about Mole

Zoe

October 22, 2018 4:24 pm October 22, 2018

2 min read

2058 views

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2 min read

Get to know Mole! I thought I’d share with you 10 different things about my lovely, little Mole so you can get to know her a little bit more 😀…

Get to know Mole!

I thought I’d share with you 10 different things about my lovely, little Mole so you can get to know her a little bit more 😀

Her favourite food is Cauliflower Cheese Puree. Its the one food I can always guarantee she will eat even on her fussy days.
She’s a nosey parker. Whenever we are in restaurants or cafes, she always has to swivel her head and watch what everybody else is doing.
Mole has a webbed toe. It is her little toe and i’m not sure what to do about it really. We have had the option for it to be separated but at the moment its not bothering her so I have left it be.
Mole is obsessed with my iPhone which has resulted in her getting a pretend VTech mobile off her Grandma
Her favourite song is Charlie and the Numbers from BabyTV. Even if I just sing the first number she smiles.
Her first word was Mama ?? and her second word was Dada.
When we went to Chester Zoo her favourite animal was the giraffe. She was mesmerised by how big they were.
Mole has visited 2 other countries. France when she was 6 weeks old and Majorca when she was 4 months old. Very lucky baby.
Mole hates peas. HATES them.
When Mole use to go in the sunlight she would always squint her eyes like a little Mole and her nickname stuck even more.
Ok, I know I said 10 things but I couldn’t miss this one off… Jay and I rarely call her Molly. If it’s not Mole, Moley or Mole rat then it’s Suzie because we think she looks like a Suzie.

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4 min read

Baby

Mole At 5 Months

Zoe

September 27, 2018 8:57 pm September 27, 2018

4 min read

1390 views

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4 min read

MY BABY IS 6 MONTHS OLD WHAAAAT?! Now that time went super quick! I swear I feel like I have lost the first few months of her life from just…

MY BABY IS 6 MONTHS OLD WHAAAAT?!

Now that time went super quick! I swear I feel like I have lost the first few months of her life from just being completely overwhelmed by being a first time mum. I can safely say, I am in the swings of it now so here is an update on the changes of Mole at 5 months.

Personality

Her personality have come through…big time! I absolutely love it. She has her own little mannerisms that make me smile and laugh each day 😀 She has also developed a temper which I only thought 2 year olds develop haha. We went to a Wildlife park and I was looking around in the gift shop and because I like to take my time, I stupidly gave her a fabric book off the shelf to keep her busy. I took it off her when it was time to go and an almighty shriek came out of her mouth..”ARRRGHHHHH!” I couldn’t believe it! I tested her to see if it was the book that she wanted to I gave it her back and she smiled again. We ended up having to buy a similar book, smaller and cheaper, as it was totally my fault but I never thought she would have reacted like that. Anyway, this temper tantrum have not left her and she has done it with various other things like getting hold of my mobile or not wanting to be fed.

Entertaining

I’m going to go into detail on a new blog post about how I keep her entertained. I have noticed that she is now interested in different toys and the way she plays with her toys is completely different. I love watching her play, she is so focused and I can see her brain ticking away trying to figure it all out.

Baby Classes

Mole still attends Baby Sensory and she is more involved than ever! She can now choose which toys she wants to hold and reaches out to grab rattles. Of course all toys ends up in her mouth haha.

We go to Art Class every Wednesday. This class is more for mums to have a break for an hour and gossip about mum life whilst making something creative for our little ones but Mole has been having the time of her life. She is either getting messy in spaghetti or practicing to be the next Picasso head to toe in paint.

Fridays is swimming. Although this causes an argument between me and Jay every Friday morning fighting about who goes in the pool, Mole has come on leaps and bounds. I can say now that I see an improvement in her kicking her legs and smiling more in the water.

Do you take your baby to any classes? Let me know which ones 😀

Weaning

Last months update I wrote about how Mole started weaning. I fed her baby rice or rusk before bed and soon realised it was not suiting her. I think weaning her at 4 months was too early for her so I waited and began again at 5 months. Success! Mole loves her food so far. I am really proud of how well she is taking to her purees. I tend to stick to mainly homemade vegetable purees and if I am out and about she loves the Heinz or Cow and Gate baby food jars. On the odd occasion she may not want her food but 9 times out of 10 she has ate the whole lot!

Health

Mole has an Eye Coloboma. She has had her latest check up to make sure that she can see okay through her eye. The results were very positive and her eye looks to be just as strong as her other eye.

She still has not suffered from Reflux ever since her last Osteopath appointment which has been truly amazing! I’d even go as far as saying it has been life changing for both of us.

Movement

She has mastered the roll 😀 Mole will role from one end of the room to the other, I have to have eyes in the back of my head at times! I’m glad during the night I don’t have to keep going in to roll her back over as last month she use to cry on her front as she thought she was stuck. Mole also does an “army shuffle” along the floor. Its like she can push herself around with her legs but hasn’t mastered a full crawl.

Thank-you for reading my Mole update! Let me know what your baby has learnt to do this past month 😀 !!

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5 min read

Baby Motherhood

Dear Molly

Zoe

September 20, 2018 12:56 pm September 20, 2018

5 min read

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5 min read

Dear Molly, When I first had you I never had a baby before. When I found out you were growing in my tummy I was extremely excited for our new…

Dear Molly,

When I first had you I never had a baby before. When I found out you were growing in my tummy I was extremely excited for our new adventure through life together.

Although I had never been around babies before, I thought I would be really good at being a mum because I work with children. I spend all day teaching them and showing them the right way to behave. I make them laugh and guide them through their problems. Some children I worked with always made bad choices and I would do my hardest to help them make the right choice even when other adults didn’t understand why.

So when I had you Molly I thought I would instantly be able to make all of the right choices for you, especially because you were mine. But Molly, I had no idea how hard being a mummy really is and i’m sure one day you will see for yourself when we look after your brother or sister if me and daddy have anymore babies.

When I first had you, I had all the time in the world as I had taken time off work. But having you meant I had to make a hard choice of moving out of Grandma and Grandads house to live with your Daddy. That was scary because I had never lived with a boy before and me and your daddy had not been together for very long so I was worried if he saw me all the time I might annoy him and he would not like me anymore.

Moving house was very lonely. I had no other adults around me. It takes my family a long time to travel here and I had no friends either. I had no one to talk to and I would go all day and night on my own and i’d get really upset with daddy when he would come in from work and spend the evening on the PlayStation with his headset on and then fall asleep on the couch for the rest of the night. I wished that you were big enough to be able to talk to me and we could have a girly night in together. I just felt like I didn’t know you. Not like I do now. I was terrified that I didn’t know I’d love you when you grow up.

When you were a baby you cried a lot. I was very silly because I never had a baby before I thought you cried a lot because of me. Sometimes I was scared to hold you because I thought you didn’t like me. Even when I wanted to hold and cuddle you, I felt like I couldn’t because I would make you cry. If I would hold you out in public I thought people might notice I was struggling so I didn’t leave the house. When really you had terrible tummy pains and reflux. You were crying because that was your way of talking to me, telling me that you needed me. I would cry too, not in front of other people, which is very silly. I’d cry because I needed you, and I was worried about being your mummy and doing it all wrong. From day one you taught me something very special; When you are hurting you should always tell someone. Even if it is a little hurting.

I always told my students at school that if you make the wrong choice at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter as we are all human and make mistakes sometimes. Well I should have listened to my own advice. But I felt like if I told anyone they would think I was a bad mummy and they would question my love for you. I know now that I may not be the best mummy in the world, but to you I am. And I will always do what is best for you trying my full best.

I am writing this letter to you Molly just in case there is another mummy out there who is scared and worried. I want them to know that yes it is okay not to be okay. To have a cry in the shower, to go to sleep feeling sick but it all gets better in time. I promise. Telling someone really helps. I’m not worried or scared about you anymore Molly. I can finally say I am excited and feeling all of the joyful feelings I did back when I found out you were growing in my tummy.

Thank you Molly, you have gifted me with so much in 5 months. New friends for life, life lessons, new passions, love and confidence (one thing I never thought was possible to have before you).

You may still make me cry on the odd hard day but I promise you fill me with smiles till I am bursting.

I love you always

Mummy

xxx

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