I''m back with another one of my sporadic parenting updates, as we enter the final months before my little one turns two. How is he nearly two?! He was only born last year, wasn't he? Barely walking last week? When do they stop being babies, anyway? Can I still call him a baby after he turns two?

Eating
Same old story, he's the epitome of a fussy toddler, but will now allow me to bribe him into trying new things in return for something he likes (such as blueberries, yoghurt, chocolate, or my phone). I used to think I'd be above such measures, but I choose my battles more wisely these days...

Something significant has changed though - our breastfeeding journey has come to an end. A rather abrupt end, in fairness - I had to start some new medication which was not advised while feeding, and decided I would put my health first for once. He still asks for it from time to time, and was very cross with me for a good week after I started saying no, but now accepts it when I tell him it's all gone. I felt a fair bit of guilt, given how much comfort he used to take from it, and I miss the calmness of sitting down for a feed with him (so rare in a boisterous toddler's busy day), but part of me is glad we have stopped. It means I can bond with him in other ways, and he's coming to me for hugs a lot at the moment which is lovely.



Sleeping
Now feeding has ceased we've updated the nap and bedtime routine, as I always used to feed him to sleep - he'd never sleep for me any other way. I went on a girls' weekend trip in mid-March though, and he was absolutely fine without being fed, which helped with my decision to stop feeding. We're doing a very slow, gentle version of sleep training, if you can call it that, where one of us stays in the room with him while he falls asleep. The idea is we will leave earlier and earlier each week until he can go to sleep without us. He has a musical rabbit, I sometimes tell him a story (he hasn't got the attention span for a book!) or we sing a song together, and then he lays down and chats to himself until he falls asleep. We were having rather a lot of 5.30am wake ups after the clocks changed - NOT  a fan! - but he's sleeping until about half past six now, falling asleep around 7.45pm at night.

He has one nap a day which varies from about an hour and a half to two hours, usually between 11 and 1. We've been using the same methods to help him sleep, and I usually ask him when I think he's ready for a nap and he says yes, which I think is helping as he feels he is choosing to go to sleep. He's very independent so I find myself using this a lot when trying to do things with him!




Playing
Harry is at his happiest when he's outdoors, so the warmer weather has come as a huge relief. My in-laws have a garden where Harry spends three days a week while I'm at work, running around and generally being a bit mad. He's super energetic and never spends more than a few minutes on one activity. The obsession with anything on wheels continues, but he's also happy pretending to bake cakes or "cookays" with his toy kitchen. He also loves to tickle us, and my husband has taught him to blow raspberries on me - great!

Chatting
His speech is really coming along and he's using more sentences these days, although I still need to translate a lot of what he says, but he's very good at mimicking me now! He's super sassy and this becomes more and more evident the more verbal he becomes. He's also adept at saying please and thank you in the right context, although he can't quite pronounce thank you... and instead ends up saying something rather rude instead (he tries to say "thanking" but hasn't quite got there yet!) - I have to suppress a laugh every time!

Now that I have a full-fledged toddler, I find myself constantly on the lookout for activities to do with him when I'm not at work. Most playgroups tend to fall into his inconveniently placed naptime, so we usually end up sitting in cafes, where I bribe him with a babyccino and a biscuit to stay calm and quiet while I try to down a hot drink in one gulp, or I accompany him round the playground while he throws himself head first down the slide. Not terribly relaxing, I'm sure you'll agree!



So it was such a treat to be invited to our local Wyevale Garden Centre in Ongar for afternoon tea with the Easter Bunny. I didn't even know they served afternoon tea, so that was such a welcome discovery as I'm always on the lookout for my next scone fix! We were even greeted by the Mad Hatter on arrival and presented with an activity pack for my son, which kept him occupied until our food arrived. A lovely fresh, hot meal for the little one, and a stack of sandwiches, scones and delicious cakes for us! I particularly enjoyed the Brie and onion chutney sandwich, it was just the perfect flavour combination. And the scones were light, airy, and earned high praise from my husband, who compared them to our ultimate favourite scones from the Cotswolds.








I obviously had to share some cake with Harry, before we assembled for the Easter Egg hunt, which involved a lot of silly walks and dancing as we found each checkpoint. Then we all headed back to the bright airy cafe, where the Easter Bunny appeared with chocolate eggs for each child. Harry tucked into his straight away - chocolate is very high on his list of priorities!






Next we were presented with a chocolate egg decorating kit, but knowing how messy my child can be, I opted to take this home where we could somewhat control the destruction... he promptly proved this by pouring his drink down his t-shirt and had to be removed to get changed. Harry also received a lovely cuddly lamb to take home, which really helped to distract him during the hasty clothes change in the car afterwards!

It was such a lovely afternoon and I expect we will be back soon for more of the delicious scones! If you'd like to have afternoon tea (or even breakfast!) with the Easter Bunny, your local Wyevale garden centre will be running the event until 28th April 2019. Follow the link for more details!

*We were a guest of Wyevale for the afternoon tea and activities, kindly gifted in return for this post. I was not paid to promote this, and only accept gifted opportunities that fit with my lifestyle and content.

Hello! My Harry updates are sporadic, but I'm finding it quite useful to stop and think about what he's like at the moment. Since he turned 1 he has changed on a weekly basis almost, and I'm worried I'll start to forget what he was like just a few months ago! I last did an update at 15 months, I think he's changed sufficiently to write a proper update now at 19 months (rapidly approaching 20, eek). I am rather alarmed at how quickly he's growing up!


Eating
He's still a bit of a fusspot but he's definitely using it to push boundaries rather than actually disliking foods. Some days he will pick and fuss at every meal, other days he devours everything we offer to him and asks for more. Blueberries are still like crack to him, he asks for them ("bees!") at every meal. Other favourites are sweet and sour chicken, spaghetti bolognese, mozzarella, tomato and pesto paninis, and pizza. He's quite happy with a quorn nugget, less happy with chunks of chicken or other meats, I don't think he enjoys the texture. If it's blended into a sauce or chopped up small I can sneak some in usually. He's become a lot more independent and wants to feed himself all the time, so I can usually just give him his meal and leave him to it (despite the horrendous mess it creates!) while I have a cup of tea. He's also taken to asking for snacks and has, to my frustration, figured out where his snack cupboard is.
He drinks like a trooper and is very good at reminding me to fill up his cup! He also happily drinks milk, especially when we are out, and even has his own mini Keep Cup purchased by my sister. He's also still breastfeeding... despite my best efforts to stop. I never thought we'd still be going at 19 months and would happily give it up, but his force of will is currently stronger than mine.



Sleeping
We're very slowly transitioning to 1 nap days. I've been working hard to get him into a routine with these as his afternoon naps were lasting too long, especially after Christmas, and he wasn't going to bed until 9pm. We're now at a point where he will wake up between 6.30-7am, nap at 11am for 1.5-2 hours, then bed by 7.30pm. It means I get my evenings back and he seems to sleep for longer stretches. I'm still having to feed at night as he comes into our bed about 3am... but it's not every hour and a half anymore, so I'm taking it as an improvement! Are we any closer to nightweaning/ sleeping through? Erm, no. But I'm going away for 2 nights in March so I am hoping that will help with the weaning.



Playing
Harry has a tendency to obsess over certain things for days at a time, then move on to something else swiftly. He has a couple of obsessions that go on rotation, a bit like his father in that respect! At the moment he is really into Toy Story, fire engines and horses (sadly, he can only say the first syllable, which makes conversation slightly awkward) and of course, trains. He has really got into imaginative play and I love listening to him narrate his games and scenarios, even if I don't follow everything that's going on. I find it really interesting how he views things and the concepts he comes up with - he likes placing the changing mat up against the sofa and using it as a slide for his cars, for example!
This last month I've felt less like I need to be involved with his games and more able to leave him playing independently while I get on with things. It's even better when he's with his cousin as they just entertain each other, shrieking with laughter and swapping toys. His attention span has increased too, and we're more able to sit and read books together, or watch bits of films, which usually results in a rare snuggle on the sofa. He's become more affectionate towards certain soft toys too, and has adopted his father's limited edition baseball Mickey Mouse as a companion.



Chatting
He's an absolute chatterbox and I love deciphering his language, it cracks me up. He can comfortably say a variety of easy words, as well as a few longer ones (triangle, anyone?) and even ventures into the odd sentence or two ("where's the train", usually. Did I mention he was a train dork? Still?)

He is pretty good at asking for things he wants, although he still uses the same word for multiple meanings ("bees" is either biscuits or blueberries, he's fairly happy with either translation) and to my immense joy will now say please. It's only been months of training! Rather less joyful was his discovery that he could say please for a feed, whilst clutching his chest to demonstrate exactly what he wanted. In the middle of an airport. Fantastic.

Embarrassing moments aside, I am really enjoying our little chats, and love how much more of his personality is emerging at the moment. He's a hilarious, affectionate bundle of energy, and although we're experiencing quite a few tantrums at the moment, the majority happen when he's overtired and I can usually calm him down with a distraction (touch wood). It's still exhausting and I wish wish wish he would sleep more, but I can't complain too much!

Hello lovelies, happy 2019! Life does tend to get in the way of this little blog and I, especially when it's easier to pop a few stories on Instagram and connect with people that way. But I do miss the whole process of a blogpost - coercing my husband into taking photos, then letting my thoughts spill out without worrying about character limits. So here we are, my first outfit post in I don't know how long (yes, I know I could check, but it's going to be an embarrassingly long time!), and it's quite a special one.

Last year I was approached by Boden to work with them as a brand ambassador, and to say I was thrilled would be a colossal understatement. I literally squealed at my desk! They're the epitome of fun, colourful, good quality British fashion, something I've really come to appreciate in the last few years as I've become more mindful of what I add to my wardrobe, and I've had such a fun time working with them. This month we're looking at some of their key pieces in the Boden 10 capsule collection, designed to encourage people to jazz up their style and get out there in dull dreary January - as someone who struggles in the darker months, I totally appreciate this ethos and as you can see, duly dragged my husband and son to the park yesterday to carry out the brief!




My choice was the Ada midi dress - a lightly flared midi tea dress, with beautiful floaty sleeves and a fun floral print. It reminds me of the dresses I used to live in a few years ago, before pregnancy and motherhood had me retreating to the safety of jeans and jumpers. Putting it on was almost an emotional process - I felt pretty and comfortable, like I'd climbed back into an old version of myself and I'd forgotten what it felt like. I felt like me again and I can't put into words how much that means!





I love the dress with boots and tights, but equally can't wait to wear it for spring, with comfy trainers and a little denim jacket thrown over the top. I'm utterly sold on the midi length too, and I can't lie, part of me is tempted by the emerald green version...

I've also got a lovely 20% discount to offer to my readers if you're equally tempted- link here! It's valid through the rest of January and will be applied at checkout. Happy shopping!







Disclaimer - the dress was gifted to me by Boden as part of a larger Instagram campaign, I have not been paid for this post.

In 2017, two things happened that very drastically altered my life. One is rather obvious, cute, noisy and gets me up before the sun rises. The other was this - we got a car.

My weekly life hasn't changed too much, I can't drive so still spend a lot of time walking with Harry or hopping on trains. But at weekends, we have freedom to go further afield without being subjected to public transport and Crossrail closures. It's wonderful! We've explored more in our local area in the last year than we have in the 6 years we've lived together in Essex. It probably helps that our days start a lot earlier than the pre-baby lazy weekends used to... and taking Harry on outings is plain good fun.

He recently developed an interest in trains - we can see the mainline from our balcony, and he gets so excited whenever I take him on a train, we have to wave bye to the driver and he chats to everyone who looks in our direction. So for the last Sunday in September, we chose to indulge this interest and took him to the Epping & Ongar heritage railway.

As my interest in trains is limited to "will it get me home on time, and will I get a seat?" I wasn't expecting to enjoy myself as much as I did - but there is something undeniably charming about seeing a steam train come puffing into the platform, and Harry's little exclamations of "oh wow!" were enough to make my day.

The railway is run solely by volunteers, and an all-day ticket is around £14 (little ones like Harry go free). The line goes from Epping to Chipping Ongar in Essex, but we were restricted by Harry's nap schedule so only went as far as the first stop on the line in North Weald. After a short walk to explore our surroundings, we got a snack in the restored railcar cafe nearby before heading back to Chipping Ongar. I imagine it would be even more fun in summer, as you can wander through the countryside nearby, but we were inadequately dressed so felt a bit too cold for a longer walk!

They do a lot of themed days, for Halloween, Christmas, etc - so we might return for a visit to see Santa! Next time I think we'd make it a full day out with a pub lunch in between. It was nice pretending we'd been flung back in time for the day, and I obviously loved the Hogwarts Express vibes....

Is it even October if you haven't visited a pumpkin patch?!

I didn't realise they were a thing until last year, I have to admit. It was only when a photographer I follow on Instagram posted some lovely images, and I noticed the location wasn't very far from our place, that my interest was piqued. I convinced my husband that visiting a pumpkin patch, with a 4 month old, in the midst of Storm Brian, would be a fabulous way to spend a Saturday. And I insisted it was in no way for my own sole benefit, as I pranced around snapping pumpkins, myself, a corn maze, and a disgruntled baby half-hidden under a blanket (did I mention Storm Brian was raging? It was a wee bit windy.) I got my photos, we spent a tenner on pumpkins, and raced home to the warm.




This year, I felt a little more justified in visiting, as it wasn't just for me. We visited on a beautifully sunny weekend, popped the wellies on, gathered together our baby gang, and let the little ones loose. I foolishly removed Harry's reins as they were spoiling my photos and he rewarded me by making a run for the fields beyond the patch, sending my husband sprinting after him. Thank goodness for the wheelbarrows provided, perfect for depositing your pumpkin spoils, and for containing a wanderlusting toddler. The pumpkins were cheap, the children entertained, the adults relieved at avoiding a potential soft play visit. It was such a success, I think this might become our autumn tradition.



We visited Foxes Farm Produce, which has two sites in Essex and opens up for pumpkin picking throughout October (weekends and during the week of half term). I'm told they also do Christmas trees... so we may return in a month!